Gujarat Assembly passes bill to tighten school regulations, introduce special educator provision

Gandhinagar, Sep 10 (AHN) The Gujarat Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed amendments to the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act, 1972, increasing penalties for unauthorised school operations, illegal appointments and arbitrary closure of registered schools, while introducing provisions for special educators and clearer legal classifications for aided and private institutions.

Under the amended provisions, school managements that illegally appoint principals or teachers in aided secondary and higher secondary schools could face a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, compared with the earlier penalty of Rs 1,000.

"The provision is aimed at ensuring greater transparency in recruitment," the government said.

The amendment also tightened the law governing unregistered schools. A school cannot provide education without registration with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.

The earlier penalty of Rs one lakh to Rs two lakh has been replaced with imprisonment of at least one year and up to two years, or a fine of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, or both.

The penalty for arbitrarily shutting a registered secondary or higher secondary school without informing the Board has also been raised sharply.

While the earlier provision carried a fine of Rs 1,000 for closing a school without the required six months’ notice during an academic session, the amended provision provides for a fine of Rs 20 lakh.

The government said the measure is intended to prevent decisions by school managements from adversely affecting students’ education. The six-month notice requirement remains part of the framework.

The amendments also provide a legal framework for the appointment of special educators. The provision is intended to strengthen inclusive education for Children with Special Needs (CWSN), with students with disabilities to receive appropriate educational opportunities and guidance from specialised teachers.

The legislation distinguishes between government-aided, or granted, schools and fully private, or non-granted, schools.

For registered aided secondary and higher secondary schools, the qualifications, working procedures and selection process of principals, teachers, special educators and non-teaching staff will be prescribed by the state government through rules.

For registered private schools, the government will prescribe the qualifications of these categories of staff. The existing state reservation policy will also apply to staff recruitment.

The amendments further revise the composition of Class-B elected members under Section 3(2) of the Act.

For the third category, one member will now be elected from among teachers of registered secondary schools other than post-basic and government schools, with separate provisions already covering representation from government schools, higher basic schools and higher secondary schools.

The fifth category has been revised to clearly cover non-teaching staff of both government-aided private schools and fully private secondary and higher secondary schools. The ninth category, concerning representation of parent associations, has also been broadened.

The word “private” has been removed from the provision, allowing presidents of parent associations of all registered secondary and higher secondary schools to participate in the election process.

The explanation to the provision has also been amended to expressly cover parent associations of both categories of schools.