The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : School de-recognition issue awaits new government’s decision

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Thursday, May 29, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

School de-recognition issue awaits new government’s decision

Special Correspondent

Many cases are still pending before courts

The final verdict on the State language policy
is pending
Many State-syllabus schools may shift to CBSE and ICSE syllabi

Bangalore: The Department of Public Instruction has been sending out circulars instructing parents not to admit their children to de-recognised schools.

This drives home the point that many of the 3,000-odd de-recognised schools are still functioning even a year and a half after the government declared that they were violating the language policy, and therefore cannot continue to function.

What seems to be preventing the Education Department from taking action against these schools — which were punished for imparting education in the English-medium though they had permission to run them only in Kannada medium — are a series of litigations still pending before courts, including a case on the State’s language policy that has been pending since 1994.

To add to this is that a new government is on the verge of formation and there is uncertainty on what the government’s position will be on the issue. The department is wary of taking any step at this juncture. This was, after all, one of the most controversial decisions taken by former Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti in the Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government.

In fact, faced with stiff opposition from schools, the government had arrived at a compromise formula soon after announcing de-recognition, by offering a voluntary scheme. The schools had to pay a fine, for which a slab was fixed based on the location of the schools, and an affidavit had to be filed stating they would make all new admissions for Kannada medium. While some opted for this scheme, others went to court. Some cases related to the voluntary scheme and de-recognition in general are still pending before the court.

In July 2007, the High Court even stayed the de-recognition of three schools in Bangalore which were teaching in English-medium after they obtained No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State Government for shifting to CBSE and ICSE syllabi. Many schools are contemplating migrating out of the State syllabus to circumvent the State’s language policy which has disallowed English-medium schools from opening since 1994. CBSE and ICSE schools do not fall within the purview of the State Education Department and have been offering English education without any hurdle. Managements of de-recognised schools have been contending this is a discriminatory practice within the education system.

The litigation that is most central to the whole issue is the State language policy, pending since 1994 in the Karnataka High Court. Though all arguments on this concluded in December 2007, the final verdict is pending. This judgement, when pronounced, will resolve a string of problems, including that of de-recognition.

Karnataka Unaided School Managements’ Association is holding a meeting on May 31 to debate the possibility of continuing to run the schools without recognition from the Government till Class 10. G.S. Sharma, president of the association, said that association members also hope to meet the new Education Minister, after the swearing-in, to convince him to allow the schools to run.

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