Centre asks Jharkhand, Bihar to act against unrecognised schools

The Centre has urged Jharkhand and Bihar to tackle the issue of unrecognised schools ‘at the earliest.’  | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Centre has urged Jharkhand and Bihar to tackle the issue of unrecognised schools ‘at the earliest.’ The Ministry of Education (MoE) flagged the issue of a high number of unrecognised schools operating in Jharkhand and Bihar during the meeting of Project Approval Board (PAB), while discussing the Annual Work Plan and Budget 2025-26 for Samagra Shiksha scheme held in March and April earlier this year. The meetings were held under the chairmanship of Sanjay Kumar, Secretary (School Education and Literacy).

An unrecognised school is a private institution run without appropriate licence from the government authority. For recognition, a private school needs to submit various documents, including details of school’s infrastructure and facilities, information about teachers and their qualifications to the district authorities. This is followed by an inspection by the District Education Officer, who visits the school to see if preconditions are fulfilled. For instance, the private school is run by a registered society or a public trust, it must have sufficient financial resources to maintain operations and it must follow prescribed curriculum and have qualified teachers. 

According to the PAB minutes of the meetings, as per the Unified District Information System for Education plus, (UDISE+) Jharkhand has the highest number of unrecognised schools in the country — 5,879 schools with an enrolment of 8,37,897 students and 46,421 teachers. 

The minutes also pointed out that as per UDISE+, there are 4,915 unrecognised schools in Bihar with an enrolment of 7,75,704 students and 42,377 teachers. 

Right to Education Act

In the minutes, the MoE pointed out to the States that Section 19 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act stipulates that those schools established before the commencement of the Act (in 2009) and not fulfilling the norms shall take steps to fulfil the norms within three years from the date of commencement of the Act. 

RTE norms include having appropriate school infrastructure and maintenance, a fixed teacher-student ratio, qualified teachers, 25% seats in class 1 of private schools reserved for economically disadvantaged children and recognition by government authorities after meeting specified norms and standards.

The RTE Act also mandates that if such schools fail to fulfil the norms, the recognition shall be withdrawn and the school shall cease to function.

The MoE has urged Jharkhand and Bihar to issue suitable instructions to the concerned authorities, ‘to recognise these unrecognised schools or to take appropriate action as deemed fit at the earliest.’

The RTE Act states that any person who continues to run a school after the recognition is withdrawn, shall be liable to a fine which may extend to ₹1 lakh and in case of continuing contraventions, to a fine of ₹10,000 for each day during which contravention continues. 

Published - June 01, 2025 07:29 pm IST