JAMMU, June 25: A meeting of private school representatives was held in Jammu on Thursday under the chairmanship of Kamal Gupta, during which members deliberated on what they termed as unethical directives issued by the School Education Department regarding the grant of recognition and affiliation to private schools in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing the meeting, General Secretary Satpaul Mansotra highlighted the hardships being faced by small private schools, particularly those operating in the Jammu division. He alleged that the government had framed unreasonable, unjustified and discriminatory rules governing private schools, adversely affecting institutions that largely depend on modest financial resources for their functioning.
Representatives from various districts informed the meeting that the process of granting recognition and affiliation had not been streamlined despite repeated assurances. They alleged that several departments responsible for issuing mandatory No Objection Certificates (NOCs) were adopting delaying tactics, resulting in prolonged uncertainty for private educational institutions.
Association President Ajay Gupta criticized the functioning of the joint online portal developed by the School Education Department and JKBOSE, stating that it had remained non-functional for over four months. He said it was contradictory that while the portal was not operational, JKBOSE had fixed June 30, 2026, as the deadline for uploading inspection fees and essential NOCs online.
Calling the situation a “mockery of the system,” Ajay Gupta alleged that private schools could be forced to pay hefty late fees because of administrative failures. He urged members to unite against what he described as a corrupt system until the School Education Department ensured online delivery of all NOCs required for registration and renewal of schools affiliated with JKBOSE, CBSE and ICSE under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Services Guarantee Act (PSGA), in accordance with Notification No. Edu/14/2026-13 (E-7723811) issued on February 27, 2026.
The members unanimously appealed to the Government to immediately restore the joint portal, extend the June 30 deadline without imposing late fees, and expedite the nomination of the Chairperson of the Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee to clear long-pending cases relating to fee approval and regulation.
Among those who attended the meeting were Deepak Handa, Ajay Singh, Siddheshwar Sadotra, Dr. Madan Mohan, Gaurav Charak, Sanjeev Luthra, Kiran Raina, Lal Chand Gandotra, Rajni Sharma, Anjana Rani, Vijay Sharma, Pardeepak Sambyal, Rachhpal Singh, Ram Parkash Sharma, Rajesh Modi, Vishal Gupta, Pankaj Kerni, Jatinder Heera, Ashwani Khajuria, Parshotam Bhardwaj, Manoj Sharma, Anil Sharma, Bhanu Pratap, Bodhraj, Rakesh Kumar, Shabir Ahmed, Satyapal Khajuria, Vikram Handa, Gurbaksh Singh, Jugal Kishore, Vishal Singh, Surinder Kumar, Danish Kapahi and Rajat Kesare, besides several other members of the association.