Government takes over Aldona high school riven by internal rift

Panaji: The directorate of education (DoE) has decided to take over St Thomas Boys High School, Aldona, where the management and the headmaster had been duelling over administrative matters. Initially, based on several complaints from parents, the DoE had issued a showcause notice to the school. Now, dissatisfied with the reply of the school management, the DoE has resolved to take charge of the school.
St Thomas Boys High School is run by the Fransalian Society.
“After going through the reply filed by the headmaster of the school, it has been found that the school management committee of St Thomas Boys High School, Aldona, has contravened the provisions of the Goa School Education Act, 1984, and Rules,” the DoE has said in its order. “It neglected to perform duty/obligation imposed on it. It mismanaged the affairs of the school and managed the affairs of the school in a manner prejudicial to the public interest.”
Based on the replies submitted by the school authorities and the headmaster, the directorate has said that the government is “convinced of the circumstances which call for the immediate taking over of the management of St Thomas Boys High School, Aldona” for three years. Assistant director Melvin D’Costa has been authorised by the DoE to manage the affairs of the school.
The DoE’s order states that D’Costa will exercise full control over administrative, financial, and academic matters of the school and will visit the school as frequently as possible to ensure that the employees and the headmaster are discharging their duties sincerely.
The headmaster had told the DoE that the society has conducted the affairs of the school in a completely lackadaisical manner and often resorted to various illegalities. In one case, he said, a principal was appointed for the school’s higher secondary section even though he did not have the essential qualifications. He said later this appointment was set aside by the high court.
The headmaster alleged that no maintenance works were carried out despite several requests.“Various posts in the primary section have remained vacant for several years. There have been issues with maternity leave and CCL. The appointments of the librarian and the watchman and others have not been renewed,” the headmaster told the directorate. “The said issues were highlighted to the school management committee on several occasions, but no step was taken by the society to fill the said vacancies, though NOCs were granted by the DoE.”
During the hearings held by the DoE, the school management denied all the allegations and said that the headmaster created ‘practical hurdles’ in functioning. The headmaster, on the other hand, said that he was being made a scapegoat.