JAGATSINGHPUR: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the district Collector to conduct an enquiry into St Xavier’s High School move to secure provisional affiliation from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) by allegedly submitting fake no objection and recognition certificates.
This paper had published a news item ‘School with CBSE affiliation under scanner’ on December 17 highlighting the issue. Later, acting on a petition filed by human rights activist Siba Sankar Patro of Ganjam district, the commission asked the Collector to submit the inquiry report within 20 days. On Thursday, the Collector had directed the District Education Officer (DEO) to begin probe into the matter and submit the report.
Sources said as per CBSE norms, it is mandatory for schools to submit NOC and recognition certificate issued by the School and Mass Education department for getting the Board’s affiliation. Both the NOC and provisional affiliation are valid for five years. The school’s last provisional affiliation certificate was issued on April 1, 2012, which expired on March 31, 2017. According to the department, it did not issue NOC since 2008. This indicates that the school secured affiliation by submitting fake NOC documents, sources added.
The incident came to light after State’s Director of Secondary Education replied to an RTI query filed by Purna Chandra Mohapatra of Kantaballavpur in the district. According to the RTI reply, the school has not been issued NOC since 2008.
The school has been running since 2004 and currently, around 540 students are enrolled in the school. This school had not applied for NOC online after the expiry of its provisional affiliation on March 31. Locals and parents had sought the intervention of the DEO in the matter. The DEO later urged the tehsildar to conduct a probe into the matter. Consequently, the tehsildar found that the school had no land recorded under its name.Earlier, the DEO had also issued show-cause notice to the secretary and principal of the school on two occasions over the issue.