KOCHI: The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on Wednesday registered a case against the management of an aided school at Pampakuda for allegedly misleading the Education Department by inflating the number of students and creating additional teaching vacancies.
The case has been registered against Fr. Abraham Konott, manager of MTM Higher Secondary School; head mistress Lovely Joseph, and District Education Officer (DEO) P.K. Devi. A quick verification was conducted on a petition filed by one Suma Monsy, a resident of Pampakkuda.
According to the complaint, the accused conspired to alter school records and manipulated student strength. The number of divisions was also shown as more than the actual to spike the number of students. The DEO, meanwhile, allegedly overlooked the manipulations to allow the hiring process to go on in violation of government regulations for appointment of teachers.
The VACB registered the case on finding that the school with 23 classrooms had students enough for only 19 divisions. A preliminary probe had revealed that the school was being run with three additional classrooms and divisions than the permissible number.
