Shocked by a leaked audio tape in which one official of the education department was heard saying to a school owner that offering are needed to be given for grant of recognition in the department, the education department has decided to implement a time bound system for grant of recognition and No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the private schools.

The education minister, Arvind Pandey took a meeting of the education department officials at the secretariat on Friday. Later talking to the media persons, the minister said that the officials have been directed to clear all applications of the recognition of the schools within 45 days to two  months.  Similarly for the school seeking NOC from the education department for affiliation to other boards such as Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the department would have to clear the file within two months, “ if the schools fulfill the required criteria and have provided necessary documents then the official concerned would have to provide the recognition or NOC within a stipulated time period.

If the recognition or NOC is not granted within two months, it would be automatically presumed that the school concerned has got the recognition or the NOC,’’ he said.

On a stern note, Pandey said that action would be initiated against the officials responsible for unduly holding on the files.

On different trainings being provided by the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), and others to the teachers, the minister said that these trainings would now be held during the summer vacations.

He said that this decision is taken to ensure that the studies of the students are not affected by the trainings of teachers.

Pandey added that the department has decided to fill 658 class IV posts in various schools of the state. The appointment on these posts would be made from the Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD). In another important decision the education department has decided to have a similar uniform in all the government schools.

On the question of National Cadet Corps (NCC) academy, the minister said that land was not provided by the farmers of Malda village of Devprayag in Tehri district so the on the orders of chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat it has been decided to shift the academy to Khandha village near Srinagar, Pauri.