: After the education department received over 1,600 complaints against private schools in Punjab for violation of norms, inspection teams have been directed to conduct checks at over 1,200 private schools in Ludhiana district.
A task force comprising three government school principals has also been formed to probe the complaints.
District education officer, (secondary education) Harjit Singh said that the teams will visit the schools and submit information regarding changes in the school fees, books, affiliation and no-objection certificate to the state-level committee. He said that the process will be completed before April 30.
The officer said that the education department undertakes inspections generally every year. He said that parents are being encouraged to report any malpractice to the government.
Punjab minister for school education Harjot Singh Bains on Monday had issued show cause notices to 30 private schools across the state, including three from Ludhiana. The schools were issued notice for fee norms violation.
The schools from the district that featured in the list include Sacred Heart Convent School in Otalan in Samrala, Spring Dale Public Senior Secondary School in Khanna and Ram Lal Bhasin Public School in Ludhiana.
The minister had posted on his Twitter account that he received complaints against 1,600 schools across the state in various districts, including Amritsar, Sangrur, Mansa, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Fazilka, Bathinda, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur.
The task force formed by the education department at the district level include Vishwakirat Kahlon, Principal of GSSS Model Town, Satwant Kaur, GSSS GSSS Guram, and Vishal Vashisth, Principal of GSSS Chakohi.
Vashishth said that the notices to three schools in the district have been issued after verification of the complaints by inspection teams.
He said that the task force will conduct the probe and submit the report to the state-level committee.
The minister had said that schools are bound to submit the information under the Punjab Regulation of Fees of Unaided Education Institutions (Amendment) Bill 2016 and 2019 and action will be taken by the district-level regulatory bodies against the schools if found at fault.
Education department to conduct PSTET Paper-2 again
The state education department has announced to reconduct the Paper-2 of the Punjab State Teacher’s Eligibility Test, which was cancelled on March 12 following a goof-up in which the correct answers of the social studies unit of the exam were highlighted in the question.
In a notification on the education department’s official website, it said that the dates for the PSTET Paper -2 will be announced in the coming days.