KOCHI: The ongoing stand-off between the Muslim Education Society (MES) and Fertilisers And Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) over the running of the Udyogamandal School came to an end on Monday with the state PSU allowing the Kasturba English Medium School, Manjummel, to run the educational institution for a period of 15 years from May 1, 2019.
The uncertainty surfaced recently after MES refused to vacate the management control even after its 15-year contract to run the school ended on March 31, 2019. MES has been running the school from April 1, 2004 on a leave and licence basis.
“After the licence period of 15 years, we called for a fresh tender and Kasturba emerged the highest bidder. There’s no claim for MES to hold on to the school,” said R Krishnan, general manager, administration, FACT. He said MES was reminded about the ending of the contract in 2017 and FACT had issued three vacation notices. “Since a new tender had to be called, we alerted them in advance,” he said.
MES, in the meantime, approached the court and obtained a stay. “The stay was vacated on May 16, making way for Kasturba English Medium School to enter the fray,” he said.
Krishnan said FACT, the licensor, has obtained an undertaking from Kasturba School to retain the students and the entire staff. “Through this, we will avoid any crisis which may occur in the upcoming academic year,” he said.
“With a view to alleviate the concerns of the students, teaching and non-teaching staff of the school, provisions have been made in the licence agreement with Kasturba English Medium (Sr. Secondary) School to enable existing students and teaching staff to continue under the new management from the start of academic year 2019-20,” said FACT in a statement.
There are stipulations in the agreement “to ensure excellent quality of education is imparted to present and future students of the institution,” the statement said.