Upload papers on recognition to get dues cleared, 609 private schools told
The Directorate of Elementary Education has given a final opportunity to over 600 private schools in the state to produce documents related to their recognition to get their claims for teaching students under Rule 134-A of the Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, cleared.
As per the information available, the directorate has asked 609 private schools to upload documents related to recognition on the portal by April 10 to get their claims settled for teaching students belonging to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) from academic sessions 2015-16 to 2019-20, and 2021-22.
As per the orders of the department, the portal to seek claims for classes IInd to VIIIth from recognised private schools for the pending dues was opened and during the verification, the claims of 609 schools were rejected as the documents related to recognition of the schools were not uploaded.
The District Education Officers (DEOs) and District Elementary Education Officers (DEEOs) have been asked to direct the schools in their respective districts to complete the documents to get the dues cleared.
However, Kulbhushan Sharma, president of National Independent Schools Alliance, said, “Following continuous dispute between private schools and the government over the delay in releasing the compensation, the state government back in 2022 had abolished the scheme. But students continue get the benefit of the scheme as there were directions to the schools to let the children continue their studies without interruption, which the schools followed. The claims are not being cleared on the pretext of non-availability of documents related to recognition but if the department didn’t have the documents, then how were students enrolled in such schools?
“The students were enrolled on the direction of the government and even the dues of the students who got promoted in classes IXth to XIIth is not cleared. The government should fix the responsibility and also clear the fate of the students studying in these schools. If the dues of the schools are not cleared, then the schools should start charging fee from such students. The pending dues must be cleared, else the schools will be forced to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” he added.
Meanwhile, District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) Ambala Sudhir Kalra said, “Following the requests made by private schools, the directorate has opened the portal once again. The private schools should provide documents related to their recognition to get the compensation pending under Rule 134-A.”
