HYDERABAD: As many as 578 unrecognized schools in the city and Ranga Reddy district face closure from June this year, which means that around 1.16 lakh students could be left in the lurch and may have to take admission elsewhere.
Cracking the whip for not applying for recognition, the school education department published a list of private English and Telugu medium schools in the two districts on Sunday. These schools will not be allowed to admit fresh students in the next academic year, officials said, adding that the list would be put up on the department website for the benefit of parents.
"The list is expected to be a guide for parents who want to enrol their children in schools. These (unrecognized) schools could be closed if they do not apply for affiliation under the state board within three months," said A Subba Reddy, district education officer, Hyderabad. The government is all set to close down more unrecognized schools in the future, officials said.
Meanwhile, the education department has decided to help the students of such 'illegal' schools. "The students can take admission in nearby government schools if they do not get admission in private schools," Reddy said.
However, experts say many students may not want to opt for government schools. "Parents may have opted for these unrecognized schools as most of them provide English medium education. They may not want to opt for government schools, most of which provide education in Telugu medium," said N Ramana Reddy from Save Our Education Society. Students should be given the option of studying in reputed and recognized private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, he added.
Under the RTE Act, 25 per cent of the seats in private schools are reserved for children from socio-economically weaker backgrounds. Educationists said that instead of just closing down unrecognized schools, officials should take care to first implement the RTE act. "The act has not been implemented in the state even three years after it was instituted. The state government should take extra effort to implement the act now as it is cracking the whip on unrecognized private schools," said R Venkat Reddy, director, M V Foundation.
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