Bangalore: Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, Kimmane Ratnakar, said on Wednesday there were no provisions under existing laws to allow Orchids The International school, Jalahalli, to continue functioning, in the wake of irregularities in its recognition.
However, in order to safeguard the interests of students of the school, the minister said that he will consider the matter and apprise parents at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.
“It is very difficult to give permission to the school. Provisions of the Karnataka Education Act and the Right to Education Act do not permit us to allow the functioning of the school. At the same time, we have to safeguard the interest of the parents and students. I will clarify the matter with the Legal department.
Hopefully we will arrive at a conclusion tomorrow (Thursday),” said Ratnakar.
The minister was addressing a press meet after holding a meeting with officials of the Education department.
Language policy
Ratnakar also said that he will have to follow the recent ruling of the Supreme Court on language policy to allow the school continue functioning.
Following the rape of a minor girl in the school, it came to light that the institution had permission to run only classes 1 to 5 with Kannada as a medium of instruction and was illegally running the pre-primary and higher primary sections.
Presently, there are as many as 133 students in nursery, 219 students in UKG and 197 students in LKG. There are 19 students in class 6 and nine in class 7.
When asked about the fate of these students if the department decided to shut the school, the minister said: “I cannot predict what will be the outcome of the meeting as we cannot go against the law. We will try and accommodate the students in nearby schools,” he said.
Transfer of students
Sources in the department said that eight schools had been identified and parents would be persuaded to start shifting their wards to other institutions. Referring to the legality of other branches of Orchids school, Ratnakar said there were many cases of trusts running a number of schools while obtaining permission to run only one school.
He made it clear that such an act was a clear violation of the rules. The minister said that action would be initiated against officials found guilty in granting recognition to Orchids school.
