KOCHI: Reports on the closure of around 2,000 English medium schools by May 23 are making parents apprehensive about the future of their children. While many parents of children studying in schools named in the list are pulling their wards out and seeking admissions in the recognised ones, others are still at a loss on the course of action. The government’s assurance that admissions will be provided in government and aided schools to students from such institutions is not helping the parents.
According to Santhosh Mon, an NRI from Palakkad, it is tough to get admission in other CBSE schools. “The school where my daughter was studying had classes only till standard VII. So I had to shift my daughter to another school. But when I approached the new school, the institution rejected the application saying the former school was unrecognised,” he said.
“I wanted to get my daughter admitted to a private school preferably CBSE. But finally had to settle for the government school,” he said. According to him, the number of students is going down in many of the well-established private schools. “So they have to reduce the number of divisions. This, in turn, affects the prospects of the students coming in from schools that have been deemed as unrecognised by the government. Reduced number of seats means a lesser chance of getting admissions,” he said.
According to the principal of a school, the problem cropped up after many people started opening new institutions taking advantage of the CBSE rule which makes it not necessary to get the board’s affiliation if the institution has classes up to standard VII. “Many schools don’t even have the required facilities mentioned in the RTE Act,” he said.
However, All Kerala Self Financing Private School Association (AKAFPSA) negated the rumours that the order on closing schools will be implemented on May 23. “The news that the schools which have been deemed unrecognised will be shut down on May 23 is false. Those schools which are members of the association will not be affected by the order,” said Shiju Augustine, director, AKAFPSA.
According to him, the decision on closing the schools will be taken only after the Kerala High Court issues a judgement on the case filed by the association and other schools. “Hence, all those schools that are functioning as per the rules and regulations won’t be closing,” he said. However, he said the government is to be blamed for all the confusion and fear.