Managements of de-recognized schools to move court

Amidst palpable anxiety among the students of the 1,414 private schools in Karnataka, which had been de-recognized by the Government for violating the language policy, the managements of schools have decided move the court and secure a stay against the closure of their institutions.

Taken aback by the sudden decision of the Government to close down the schools for imparting education in English instead of the regional language Kannada, the Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (KUSM) has been forced to take legal recourse.

KUSMA President G S Sharma told reporters that the Government’s decision to close down the schools was not only “tragic” for the hundreds of thousands of children and their parents, but also runs contrary to the fundament right of citizens to run educational institutions.

The Education Department has issued notices to the 1,414 private schools in Karnataka, including about 800 in Bangalore alone, for violating the language policy. “These schools had been accorded permission to conduct classes since 1994 after they gave an undertaking that the medium of instruction in the institutions will be Kannada. But, over the years, they have switched over to English medium of instruction”, Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti said.

Horatti has ruled out the possibility of the Government going back on its decision to close down these schools, causing concern among not only the students, but also the parents.

With the schools declaring mid-term holidays for Dasara from September 20 to October 2, the scheduled re-opening of the schools on October 3 after the vacations has come under cloud of uncertainty. Students and their parents are not sure whether they will have schools to go to after the vacations end.

But, the Government, however, has assured to protect the future of the students studying in these schools. “I have convened a meeting of senior officers of the Education Department in Bangalore on September 23 to thrash out a solution to secure the admission of these students into other aided, unaided and Government schools”, Horatti said.

The Government will issue instructions to all the deputy directors and block education officers to ensure that students of de-recognized schools are not denied admissions in other schools. “The de-recognized schools do not have any option, but to close down their institutions. If at all they are interested in conducting classes strictly in Kannada language, they will have to seek fresh approval and recognition from the Government”, Horatti added.