Schools reopen two days before scheduled date; officials say no action will be taken against institutions
Schools reopen two days before scheduled date; officials say no action will be taken against institutions
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After wasting time and energy, and confusing parents and school managements alike, officials from the education department have decided to do nothing about schools that re-opened before the date set by the government. Just days before the schools were to reopen up, the state education department issued a government resolution (GR) in the first week of June directing all aided schools, including private ones, to start classes uniformly, that is, on June 15. The GR went on to say that action would be taken against school managements that refused to comply with the order.u00a0 As a result, chaos spread among schools, and many parents and principals were upset. Most complained that the GR should have come in by April, when schools close for summer vacation, and it was too late to inform parents.
"By the time we got the GR, it was almost time to open. Though we will comply, it is quite inconvenient, and they should have done this earlier," said Lily Patel, principal, Sardar Dastur Boys High School. Despite the GR, many schools reopened on June 13. Despite receiving tip offs from parents about schools flouting norms and re-opening on June 13, education officials are apparently gong soft on these institutions. "Yes, we know that many schools re-opened on June 13; we have their names. We will not take any harsh action or send notices to them. That's because we issued the GR late and maybe the schools didn't get enough time to plan in advance," said M R Kadam, primary education officer.
Ramchandra Jadhav, education officer, PMC, said the GR did not mean any specific punitive action and that's why schools would be let off. Principals, however, said that the GR was merely a waste of time and meant to create chaos. "If they weren't serious about implementing it, why did they issue such a GR in the first place? It was a silly idea to extend the re-opening by two days. I think it was just a waste of time and nonsensical idea to even come up with the GR first and then decide it's not worth pursuing," said a senior educationist and principal of a private school.
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