The HRD Ministry should go for "realistic" planning and expedite efforts to streamline the process of granting recognition to schools in a time-bound manner, a Parliamentary panel has recommended. "The committee is dismayed to note that for developing a transparent mechanism and adequate safeguards for recognition of a school, a substantial time has already elapsed in finding a viable solution, devoid of red-tapism, to the problem.
"The HRD Ministry should go for realistic planning and expedite its efforts to streamline the process of granting 'certificate of recognition' in consultation with the respective state governments to consider the granting of recognition to government schools in a time-bound manner," the panel said in its report.
The committee had earlier pointed out that a large number of private schools all over the country had been closed for non-compliance of norms laid down in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) which in turn had resulted in the deprivation of a larger number of children of their right to education.
"The norms and standards of the RTE Act for providing recognition of private schools and the additional conditions imposed by the state governments were 'onerous' and 'unrealistic', thereby leading to harassment and sometimes closure of private unaided schools by education officials," it had noted in its earlier report.
The panel had recommended that the HRD Ministry should streamline the process of 'certificate of recognition' and make it more transparent and also constitute an independent body comprising of noted academicians, in consultation with respective state governments.
"The HRD Ministry has apprised the committee that a transparent mechanism and adequate safeguards need to be developed by the 'appropriate government'. It has also been emphasised on states and UTs that a transparent mechanism needs to be evolved for recognition of schools," the panel report said.
