BOSE chairman not adhering to orders on recognition, affiliation of schools: HC

SRINAGAR — The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has said that the BOSE chairman and other parties were not adhering to its orders with regard to providing of provisional accord of recognition and affiliation of some private schools.

Besides, the learned counsel said that the petitioner of the case submits that the direction of the High Court has gone begging as the respondent (BOSE Chairman) has not bothered to act in compliance with the direction ordered by the court.

According to the news agency KNO, High Court in an order said, “A pending writ petition, this court by virtue of an order dated 18th November, 2023 come to direct the writ respondents to provisionally accord recognition and affiliation to the petitioner’s school and also to release the Registration Return Forms with respect to the students of the petitioner’s schools.”

It said that the learned counsel for the petitioner herein submits that the direction of this Court has gone begging as the respondents herein have not bothered to act in compliance with the direction so given by this Court. “Hence, a case for non-compliance of the court direction is made out.”

In this regard, the High Court has issued a notice to the respondents of the case. The court ordered that the petitioner shall furnish registered postal covers within a period of seven days ‘whereupon the Registrar Judicial, Srinagar to issue notices to the respondents’.

“In the meantime, the respondents (BOSE Chairman) are sounded a caution to consider the compliance of the writ court direction as it obtains with respect to the future of the students undergoing their education in the petitioner’s schools,” it reads.

Pertinently, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) earlier this year has given a nod to enroll secondary and senior secondary level students of 60 private schools on nearby government institutions in view of ‘land and affiliation expiry issues’.

The officer in the order had said that the order was accorded with regard to the expiration of affiliation of such private academic institutions of Kashmir Division, in October 2021-2022, coupled with the failure of the concerned managements to submit requisite case files for further extension with necessary certificates and safety documents.

The board authority had also said that the concerned private schools shall remit a tagging fee equivalent to a periodical inspection fee for the current academic session viz. 2023-2024, as prescribed by the JKBOSE.

“The defaulter schools are admonished not to enroll any students in classes from 9th to 12th, from the next academic session viz 2024-2025, without securing formal affiliation and recognition from the board and Government School Education Department respectively,” it reads.

The board authorities however had said that the orders shall be subject to the outcome of writ petitions, if any, pending before the competent courts of law.

Meanwhile, the officials of JKBOSE had said, “Under Statutory Order (SO) 177, in the case of those private schools who are running their institutions from the state land and are defaulters, their number is around 200.”

The official had said that those owners or functionaries of such private schools were supposed to get their titles cleared from the revenue department. “We only need a NOC from them.”

In April 2022, the government had notified conditions under SO-177 for private school registration, recognition, and affiliation.