Facing closure, unauthorised schools urge govt to relax rules

Mumbai: Facing a threat of closure, unauthorised schools in the city have urged the state government to relax mandatory regulations for operating educational institutions. The schools recently approached school education minister Deepak Kesarkar and submitted a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde, seeking protection against impending government action.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), acting on instructions from the state education commissioner, has issued notices to 210 unrecognised schools, compelling them to obtain necessary permissions or face closure. Around 72 such schools have faced closure so far.

Many of the unauthorised schools argued that they are unable to comply with certain norms, particularly those related to infrastructure and finances. Since most of these institutions operate in slums, serving underprivileged students, they face challenges in meeting regulations such as mandatory minimum land area of 500 square feet. The Maharashtra Self-Financed Schools (Establishment and Regulation) Act further mandates that the land must be registered in the name of the company, trust, or society managing the school through a registered lease deed or agreement spanning 30 years or more.

A trustee of a Govandi school, which is among schools facing government scrutiny, stated, “As our schools are in slums, it is difficult to find such extensive land. Moreover, acquiring a lease deed or registered agreement is a challenge as most transactions in these areas rely on affidavits. Additionally, the online recognition process is inaccessible to us.” Another obstacle faced by these schools is the inability to meet the minimum fixed deposit requirement of ₹20 lakh.

A majority of these schools are part of a list of 674 private establishments flagged by the education department for want of essential documents, including no-objection, affiliation and authorisation certificates. However, the schools believe that the task of relocating students will be impractical, if not impossible.

Shabana Khan, a member of the School Management Federation, an umbrella organisation representing unrecognised schools, said, “56 of these institutions are concentrated in the M East ward, encompassing areas such as Govandi, Deonar, Shivaji Nagar and Cheeta Camp. As most of these schools offer education in English, transferring students to the two English-medium BMC-run schools in the area is not a viable solution.”

Khan further explained that several unrecognised schools on the list have been operating since as early as 1985 yet they have not received recognition despite multiple attempts. “We urge the government to acknowledge the quality of education we provide and grant recognition based on the fulfilled criteria. We will only accept a limited number of students based on our capacity,” she added.

Meanwhile, member of legislative council, Kapil Patil, said, “In a city like Mumbai, fulfilling criteria like space is difficult. I had a discussion with the education commissioner about this. Some of these schools are giving education to students with weaker financial backgrounds. Considering all this, the government should make some flexible policy for such schools.”