After the strict action taken by the Jabalpur Collector in the matter of arbitrary fee collection by private schools in Madhya Pradesh, in view of its results, the state government has now instructed all the collectors of the state to take action in the districts. It has been instructed that they should register the fees and other information of all the schools in their district portal.
The School Education Department has asked to strictly follow the provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Private Schools (Regulation of Fees and Related Subjects) Act 2018 and Rules 2020 in all the districts of the state.
Regarding this, in the instructions issued on Thursday, the collectors have been told that in the letter issued by the Directorate of Public Instruction on May 20, instructions were issued to submit the information of fees and other subjects by non-government schools on the portal by June 8.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that the rules and instructions of the government are not being followed by the management of some schools. In such a situation, there is an open violation of MP Private Schools (Regulation of Fees and Related Subjects) Rules 2020. This is serious and in view of its complaints, new instructions are being issued.
It has also been said that fake and duplicate ISBN textbooks are being included in the curriculum.
To correct this, conduct a special campaign by 30 June 2024 and get it investigated. Identify how many schools have committed such irregularities and for what reasons. Action should also be taken against the publishers and booksellers who committed the irregularities. The collectors have also been asked to submit the investigation report of this.
The action of Jabalpur Collector Deepak Saxena has set an example in the matter. Saxena has investigated 11 private schools and taken action to get fake and duplicate books used there and to get the excess fees of Rs 81.30 crore recovered and to impose a penalty of Rs 22 lakh. Along with this, 20 principals, chairmen, CEOs, secretaries and other officials of these schools have also been arrested.
After the action of Jabalpur Collector, Damoh Collector Sudhir Kochhar and Shahdol Collector Tarun Bhatnagar have also started investigation of the schools of the district. Schools have been asked to upload information on the portal.
