No private school in Odisha has government NOC

BHUBANESWAR: Not a single private school in Odisha has got the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the state government to run the schools. Private schools from across the state have alleged that the state government has been sitting over their applications for granting the NOC.
“Almost all 6000 schools have applied online seeking NOC from the government. But after March 2017 government has not issued NOC to a single school, for reasons best known to the government. We have reminded the state government about it but to no avail,” said chairman of Confederation of Odisha Public Schools, B N Patnaik.

The schools said, they had uploaded all required information and documents regarding the school in OPEPA website including infrastructure, faculty details, fee structure, facilities and photographs. At most places Block Education Officers have completed the inspection of schools, but the NOC is yet to be released.

“In case of CBSE affiliated schools there is no need for inspection or verification as the central board has already issued them NOC after proper inspection. But the state government is sitting over it,” Patnaik added.

As per the Right to Education Act 2009 all schools must obtain an NOC from the government within three years of the formation of the act or will cease to function.

On the other hand officers in the school and mass education department said most of the schools have not fulfilled the required criteria and have been issued show cause notice.

“Apart from a few schools most of the schools have failed to fulfil the required criteria under the RTE Act. We have given them a deadline to fulfil the norms and apply again,” said director of elementary education Chudamani Seth.

Parents also alleged that due to lack of monitoring mechanism of the state government private schools violating the norms. Following allegations of exorbitant fee hike in private schools the state government has recently formed a six-member Fee Regulatory Committee, which will decide the fees in private schools, sources said.