In a major decision, the state Education Department has closed at least 284 private schools operating within the Jammu Municipal limits for flouting safety norms and putting the lives of children at risk.
The schools have not been adhering to three essential criteria i.e. fire, building and lab chemical safety. This was disclosed by Minister for Education Syed Altaf Bukhari in a written reply to a question of Congress legislator Rani Gargi Blowria in the Legislative Council here today.
“Notices were served on the institutions to procure mandatory certificates, but they failed to produce the same. So, these have been closed. The schools had applied for extension, but were not granted permission due to the non-furnishing of a no objection certificate from the Jammu Municipal Corporation,” the minister said, adding that “no permission is accorded for running schools in residential houses”. In order to keep strict vigil on the private schools which are earning huge profits by overcharging vis-à-vis textbooks and uniforms, the Committee for Fixation of Fee Structure of Private Educational Institutions of J&K (FFC) has also constituted inspection teams. They will conduct surprise visits to private educational institutions to verify whether all books, printed published and prescribed by the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE) from Classes I to XII have been adopted by the institutions or not.
The committee too had impressed upon all private educational institutions not to charge uniforms for at least two years and stick to sets of prototypes (one each for winter and summer months).
The private educational institutions have also been directed to make available the specifications, design and sample of the uniforms, cloth material to every student and the parents will be free to purchase the uniforms from anywhere. Maintaining that the JKBOSE has enough stock of textbooks available which are supplied to all schools and registered booksellers, the government said it was mandatory for educational institutions to follow the JKBOSE-prescribed curriculum by all schools, both private and government-run in the state.
284 Pvt schools shut for flouting safety norms across Jammu Municipal limits
