Over 300 unrecognised schools identified in city

Chennai Collector A Shanmugasundaram, in an official communique, said that under RTE act, all schools are required to obtain no-objection certificate from the government fortheir functioning.

He said officials discovered during raids that as many as 331 unrecognised schools in the city were functioning without a valid certificate issued by the government.

The collector also advised the public not to seek admission for their children in those schools and added that the certificates issued by these institutions are not valid.

In addition, the students, who study in these unrecognised schools would not be allowed to appear for the board exams, he said. Shanmugasundaram also warned that strict action will be taken as per law against the management of the schools which continue to function without recognition certificate.

A senior official from the School Education Department said that the Transport Department would also withdraw fitness certificates issued to vehicles belonging to these schools.

He pointed out that the schools are functioning without the required permission from Directorate of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), Local Planning Authority (LPA) or Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). He claimed that there won’t be any unrecognised schools in the state by the beginning of the next academic year.

The official said the list of unrecognised schools could be obtained from the collectorate or from the website of the Directorate ofSchool Education.