MET starts IGCSE curriculum without govt nod

The Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) run by politician Chaggan Bhujbal’s family is in the eye of another controversy.

One of its schools, Rishikul Vidyalaya in Bandra (West) has started International General Certificate Secondary Education (IGCSE) till Class 8 without obtaining the mandatory nod from the state government, an RTI query has revealed.

“This office has not given an NOC to Rishikul Vidyalaya to affiliate with the IGCSE curriculum,” read the letter by SN Joshi, under-secretary (school education), in his reply to the RTI petition filed by activist Vivek Gavandi.

However, the school went ahead and secured IGCSE affiliation, and started classes last month.

According to rules, schools must first obtain an NOC from the state , followed by seeking affiliation to an education board, before starting classes.

“Schools cannot start classes without getting a NOC from the government and the civic body. They should apply few years in advance for the NOC,” confirmed NB Chavan, deputy director of education (Mumbai division).

School trustee Pankaj Bhujbal told HT, “The NOC is in process. All the documents have been submitted. We started the school because we needed to show students, teachers and infrastructure for getting IGCSE affiliation.”

FALSE AFFIDAVITS?

Gavandi has claimed the trust has submitted a false affidavit to the state to obtain the NOC, claiming there is no dispute between managing committee members, when in fact there is an ongoing crime branch probe.

He added that another mandatory affidavit, attesting that there was no court case pending against the trustees, was not submitted.

Another RTI plea filed by him has revealed the trust stated in its NOC application that it has nine members, though charity commissioner records show there are only five.

The school was in news in 2011, when students entering Class 9 had to leave because it was not affiliated to the ICSE board.