All private schools affiliated to the CISCE (Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations) and CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) will have to be approved by the state government, represented by a panel chaired by the DC of the district concerned.

The main aim behind this approval is to check the legalities of a private school, including land acquisition, affiliation, infrastructure and others, said an education official, referring to a letter by the department of school education and literacy on July 18 directing district committees to grant approval to private schools. DC apart, each committee will also comprise district education officers, parents, MLAs and MPs.

The circular also said only schools with their Unified District Information on School Education (U-DISE) code, which comes after schools update their details on a central government website, will be considered for approval. Schools without the U-DISE code won’t be considered legal and can also face closure.

Though the process of getting private schools approved by the state government was initiated about four years ago, it could not be implemented properly. “Usually, once a private school gets affiliated by CISCE or CBSE, their job is done. But now, their legality will have to be approved by the government at regular intervals. This had been initiated in the past but wasn’t implemented. To implement it properly and more transparently, the government decided to decentralise the process at the districts,” said one of the officials of state school education and literacy department.

A source in the department said the decision to decentralise the process was also taken because it was tedious for the state department in Ranchi to handle and verify papers of thousands of schools from all across districts.

Also, decentralisation will make work easier for schools, he pointed out. “For instance, schools in Jamtara will find it easier to reach their district headquarters rather than coming all the way to Ranchi,” he said.

District education officer of East Singhbhum Shivendra Kumar welcomed the move. “It will put a check to the mushrooming of illegal schools. Some are not even affiliated. As soon as we get guidance, we will start working on this,” he said.

Though it is too early to establish the impact this move will have on private schools across the state, a Jamshedpur principal said she welcomed the move.

Principal of Dayanand Public School Swarna Mishra said reputable schools would not have any problem in establishing the fact that they were legal and above-board. 'Schools that have been successfully running for decades are legally clear. In any case this is a welcome step and we have no problem. In fact, when this move was first initiated by the state government four years ago, we had all submitted the required documents needed for approval,” Mishra said.