GUWAHATI, April 4 � A total of 145 private schools in the city and its environs are operating without necessary permission or registration.
This was revealed during a survey conducted by the Education department and the Kamrup Metro district administration.
�As per the survey, there are 377 High Schools and Higher Secondary schools in Kamrup Metro district, of which 121 are government schools. Among the 252 private schools, as many as 145 are operating without the necessary permission from the Education department,� Dr M Angamuthu, Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup Metro, told reporters here today.
He added, �We ask those schools to register themselves immediately. We are giving them this opportunity because we do not want to cause any inconvenience to the students and parents. If they fail to act immediately, we will take action.�
Dr Angamuthu said that the Special Team formed under Additional DC Rajib Prakash Barua to look into the matter of schoolbuses will also conduct inspection of schools to check other aspects like land use pattern, safety and disaster preparedness and fee structure, besides quality of teachers.
�If any school is found lacking in any of these matters, action will be taken against it, which may include shutting down the school,� he said.
With regard to regulation of schoolbuses as per Supreme Court guidelines, the CD said that there are 851 school buses in the district.
�The Transport department has carried out inspection of 524 buses and fitness certificates have been issued to 401 schoolbuses so far. On the spot checking will be conducted to see if the remaining buses have adopted safety norms and other requirements or not. If not, they will be confiscated and their permits cancelled,� Angamuthu said, adding that action will also be taken against schools that operate their own buses but do not have adequate parking space.
He added that parents from certain hilly and far-flung areas of the city have pleaded that as schoolbuses are unable to come to such localities they should be allowed to send their children to school in rented vehicles like Sumos and Maruti Vans.
�So we have decided that they can do so provided special permission for such vehicles is taken from the Regional Transport Authority and rules for safety and maximum carrying capacity are adhered to,� Angamuthu said.
The DC added that the administration is thinking of introducing different timings for different categories of classes in schools which have students from primary to higher secondary standards.
�This will help to ease the problem of traffic congestion, as primary, secondary and higher secondary classes could be conducted at different times during the day,� he said.
Angamuthu said that a team will be formed to inspect retail and wholesale apparel stores in the city to ensure that hidden cameras and such devices are not concealed in changing rooms. This comes after the discovery of a hidden camera at an apparel store visited by Union Minister Smriti Irani in Goa yesterday.
