A day after the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) published the list of illegal and unauthorised schools in Bengaluru, private school managements have cried foul as several schools that were denied permission for upper primary classes are on the list.
Explaining a case, a member of the management of a school in Laggere said that they had applied for permission for classes six and seven for several years, including 2013-2014 academic year, but were denied on the grounds that they were violating the language policy for classes one to five, even as the policy matter was in court. “The department itself has denied us permission and now they term us as illegal. The department seems to be in no mood to sort out the language policy which is only adding to the confusion and chaos,” the member said.
Several other schools too said that their plight is the same.
D. Shashi Kumar, General Secretary, Associated Managements of Government Recognised English Medium Schools in Karnataka, said that some schools which had made submissions in the courts that they are running English medium classes were denied permission for classes six and eight. “The department first needs to clarify these issues before defaming the school managements,” he said.
Department officials conceded that the schools were indeed denied permission but said they were only following instructions of higher-ups. A senior official in the department said that, in such instances, the schools could cite their objections within 10 days.
Meanwhile, some parents approached schools after they saw that the school was listed as illegal. “The school claimed that they have all permissions in place. Why then are they illegal?” a parent, whose child studies in a Rajajinagar school that has been listed as illegal, said.
