Bengaluru: The National Public School (NPS), which has multiple campuses across the city, including in upmarket Indiranagar, and Koramangala, besides Rajajinagar, Kengeri and Vijayanagar as well as Mysuru, is under investigation for allegedly forging documents to claim a minority status and avoid reserving seats under the Right to Education Act(RTE) for underprivileged children.
On Tuesday, Department of Public Instruction (DPI) officials met city police commissioner, N S Megharik to discuss the issue. Both the city police and the DPI are expected to conduct separate investigations into the allegations against the school.
The DPI is looking into claims that the NPS forged signatures of officials of the National Commission for Minority Education Institutions (NCMEI) and the Directorate of Urdu and Other Minority Language Institutions on documents to claim minority status.
The school, which charges anywhere between Rs. 1 lakh to Rs 1.25 lakh for a class I student, has been against admitting RTE students from day one, say DPI officials.
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"In 2013 DPI received complaints that the NPS management was refusing to admit RTE students allotted seats in its schools claiming it had minority status. When we conducted an inquiry we found that the school was not granted minority status by any state or Central agency. When we pursued the matter further this year we came across what appeared to be forged documents. We have information that a case has been filed in this regard in a Delhi police station as well. We are now in the process of building a foolproof case against the school," said a DPI officer.
There was similar confusion last year when a few students who were allotted seats in NPS schools were not even allowed to enter the campus, according to some officers.
Two students however, managed to get admission into a NPS school via the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, they said
Going by the officials all NPS schools in the city are the first choice of students applying under the RTE quota due to the brand name and the facilities available.
DPI officials are now scrutinising several other schools, which have also rejected RTE students claiming minority status. "We have received several complaints. NPS could be just the tip of the iceberg,” said one officer.
Nagasimha G Rao, convenor, of the RTE Task Force, urged the state government to order a high level investigation into the matter. "Along with NPS, many schools in the city have used the minority school tag to escape the RTE quota. We want a high level investigation into this and the government must ensure that all schools are brought under the RTE quota," he demanded.
Efforts by Deccan Chronicle to contact the NPS school management for its comments proved futile on Tuesday.
