In yet another case of the Education Department buckling under pressure from private school managements, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education has revised its order on stringent land requirement of one acre for starting or registering schools for the 2015-16 academic year. The norms have been specially revised to suit demands made by private school managements in BBMP areas.
As per the revised land norms, each new school needs to have half an acre land for establishing classes 1 to 8, one acre for running classes 1 to 10 and half-an-acre for having classes 9 and 10. In other parts of the State, the land requirement is one acre for all categories. Until this academic year, State board schools did not have any minimum land requirement.
Private school managements had questioned the department’s November 2014 circular that mandated two acres in rural areas, one-and-half acres in municipality areas, and one acre in all corporation areas — for a school to run classes 1 to 10. Private school managements argued that it would be impossible to meet the land requirement criteria particularly in Bengaluru as the real estate prices were soaring. They had even questioned it in High Court. However, the relaxation of these norms could lead to schools with very little space being registered. A Block Education officer told The Hindu that managements, who had a 60 X 40 site too, had applied to the department.
Mullahalli Suri, president of the Parents’ Association, termed this “unfortunate” and alleged that the government was working only to promote the interests of private school managements. “Several State board schools today run out of a small rented building. The land requirements in the November circular would have brought in quality and helped students, as the land requirement would ensure large playgrounds, laboratories and adequate ventilation.”
However, Commissioner for Public Instruction Mohammad Mohsin said the mushrooming of private schools could still be curbed as other infrastructural requirements would still have to be met by schools.
