BENGALURU: Private schools are threatening to shut over principal secretary S R Umashankar’s alleged statement that transfer certificates of private schools will be made available at the Block Education Office.
General Secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka (KAMS) Shashi Kumar said that parents have not paid fees for three to four years, and this move by the department will only encourage them. He sought the education minister’s intervention in the issue.
Lokesh Talikatte, state unit president of Recognised Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA), Karnataka, said that according to RTE rules, schools have to right to issue transfer certificates. He said the previous year was unnecessarily spent on the fee issue, and the government got a bad name and the minister lost his position. This year, the secretary has announced that transfer certificates can be obtained from the BEO. He said that certificates are issued only by schools, as are assessment and report cards.
He called the principal secretary’s decision unlawful, and asked the minister to intervene and stop the implementation of this decision. A top department official denied that any such circular was issued. Despite several attempts, TNIE could not get a response from Umashankar.