No authority to sign reports?

Although St Mary's school is on trial for bending rules set by the education department, its principal, whose appointment is being investigated, has signed all the students' reports

St Mary's school has been in the eye of the storm since an RTI application exposed that the institute was a hotbed of corrupt, unlawful and extortionate activities. The Education department served a notice to the school on March 31 earlier this year, cancelling its recognition, and scheduling a hearing for April 28.


School of thought: The school has also been pulled up for taking
donations amounting to Rs 1 crore from parents of aspiring students
during admission into its kindergarten department.File Pic

The next hearing has been scheduled for May 24. The derecognition came in the wake of alleged violation of rules that have been set by the education board, the primary violation being the appointment of the school's incumbent principal, Baptist Pinto without seeking necessary approval from the board. However, the school appears to be quite unfazed by the raps. This is amply illustrated by the fact that its principal has signed all the report cards of the school students, disregarding the fact that his appointment is under investigation.

Besides the principal's appointment, the notice served to the school pulled it up for taking donations amounting to Rs 1 crore from parents of aspiring students during admission into its kindergarten department. The school flagrantly flouted rules when it extracted penalty payments from students for the teachers' benefit and gratuity funds. The notice was also served to the school for not constructing toilets in every floor of a four-storey building that housed 959 students.

The school authorities were rapped for not maintaining instruments in the laboratory, for not storing a sufficient number of books in the library, for not maintaining proper records, for bending the rules while conducting the Parent Teachers Association Election, and for collecting money for the same fund unlawfully. The school had also allegedly increased the marks of certain students from classes five to nine in the years 2008 and 2009. A copy of the notice has been obtained by MiD DAY.

Ujjwala Patil, chairperson of the Maharashtra Education Board, said, "The principal has signed the report cards even though his appointment is now under question, since it was not sanctioned by the board, as demanded by law.u00a0 But since the matter is in the process of being investigated, I cannot comment on whether it was correct of him to sign the report cards.
An official from the Education department said, "When such notices are sent, the Education department appoints the senior-most teacher as the signing authority. However, the authorities at St Mary's are claiming that they are a minority institution and work under a separate set of rules, not needing approval of the board for appointment of a principal.u00a0 If this is the case, then the principal is authorised to sign the report cards of the students. But since the matter is now sub judice, we cannot comment on it."

Nana Kute Patil, an RTI activist associated with the NGO Buland Chhawa Maratha Yuva Parishad, said, "I filed an RTI application to expose the irregularities that are rife in St Mary's School. I discovered that the school was violating several rules and filling its coffers in the process. I wrote a letter intimating the education minister and the chief minister of these violations, after which the education department began investigating the matter. But now I hear that the principal, whose appointment was not in keeping with the rules set by the government, has signed the report cards of the students. This is unacceptable."

The Other Side
Baptist Pinto, Principal, St Mary's School, said, "It is a very minor issue. The school's management had appointed me a year back, but the Education department had not given its approval for the same. This is the crux of the matter. I know I am not authorised to sign the students' report cards, but the school management has not appointed anybody else to do so in my stead. But there is no reason to be alarmed, since the matter has been taken up by the Education department and will be resolved soon."