(1) Every school, other than the schools referred to in sub-clauses (i) and (iii) of clause (n) of section 2 of the Act, established before the commencement of the Act for imparting elementary education shall make an application within a period of three months from the notification of the rules to the respective Inspecting Officer containing self-declaration, regarding its compliance or otherwise with the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule of the Act and fulfillment of the following conditions in Form-I:
(a) The school is run by a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or a public trust constituted under the law in force from time to time.
(b) The school is not run for profit to any individual, group or association of individuals or any other persons;
327PART–II] LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
(c) The school conforms to the values enshrined in the Constitution;
(d) The school buildings or other structures or the grounds are used only for the purposes of education and skill development;
(e) The school is open to inspection by the concerned Inspecting Officer and any officer authorised by the Directorate of School Education/Local Authority;
(f) The school furnishes such reports and information as may be required by the Directorate of School Education/Inspecting Officers/ Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan from time to time and complies with such instructions of the Government of Puducherry/ Directorate of School Education/Local Authority as may be issued to secure the continued fulfillment of the conditions of recognition or the removal of deficiencies in the working of the school;
(g) The school maintains the norms and standards specified under section 19 of the Act;
(h) The school (aided private) provides free and compulsory elementary education to such proportion of children admitted therein as its annual recurring aid or grants so received bears to its annual recurring expenses, subject to a minimum of twenty-five per cent;
(i) The school (unaided private) will provide reservation of minimum 25 % in class I for the children of disadvantaged groups and children of weaker sections from the neighbourhood area.
(j) The school (unaided private) having pre-primary education will provide reservation of at least 25 % of its enrolment at the initial stage of admission to the children of disadvantaged groups and the children of weaker sections of the neighbourhood area under section 12 of the Act;
(k) The school does not collect any capitation fee from students on admission;
(l) The school does not subject the child or his/her parents/ guardians to any screening procedure for admission;
(m) The school does not subject a child to physical punishment or mental harassment;
(n) The school does not hold back any child in any class or expel any child from the school till the completion of elementary education;
LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT [PART–II328
(o) The school will submit, every year before the commencement of academic session, fee to be charged from the children of classes LKG/UKG/Class I to Class VIII, as fixed by the committee specified under sub-rule (5) of rule 9, to the Inspecting Officer;
(p) The school complies with the provisions of the Act.
(2) The Director of School Education shall be the designated authority to issue certificate of recognition and certificate of renewal of recognition to the school under section 18 of the Act; this authority shall not be delegated. The application seeking recognition shall also mention the neighbourhood area of the school that shall be covered under the provision of clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 12 of the Act. The school, at first, shall furnish information in the electronic form in the website maintained for the purpose so that the school information is, immediately, put on the public domain. The school shall get a receipt and registration number after filing the data in the website. Thereafter, the school shall submit the application form along with the copy of the receipt to the respective Inspecting Officer, who shall acknowledge receipt of the application.
(3) A committee, constituted by the Director of School Education, consisting of an educationist, a Government representative and the respective Inspecting Officer shall verify the information submitted by the school in the application through inspection of the school and if the school seeking recognition fulfills the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule of the Act and the conditions laid down under sub-rule (1) of rule 12, send the application form in original along with his/her report , within thir ty days of receipt of the appl ica t ion to the Di rec tor of School Educa t ion through the Deputy Director (Elementary Education) for consideration.
(4) The Director of School Education, if necessary, may make or may cause to make inspection of the school to verify if the school seeking recognition fulfills the norms and standards prescribed under section 19 of the Act.
(5) The Director of School Education, on being satisfied that the school fulfills the norms and standards prescribed under section 19 and section 25 of the Act shall issue the recognition certificate in Form-2.
The certificate shall be for a period of three years and shall be issued within 45 days from the date of making application for recognition.
329PART–II] LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT
(6) If a school established before the commencement of the Act does not fulfill the norms of pupil-teacher ratio as specified in the Schedule of the Act, the Director of School Education shall issue a provisional certificate granting permission to run the school for a period up to six months from the date of notification of the rules.
The provisional certificate shall be issued in Form-3 as shown in the Appendix.
(7) If a school established before the commencement of the Act fulfills the norms of pupil-teacher ratio as specified in the Schedule of the Act, but does not fulfill other norms and standards specified in the Schedule, the Director of School Education shall issue a provisional certificate granting permission to run the school for a period up to three years from the date of notification of the rules. The provisional certificate shall be issued in Form-3 as shown in the Appendix:
Provided that if the school fulfills the required norms and standards within the time-frame specified in the provisional certificate, the certificate issuing authority, on receipt of the request from the school for recognition, should satisfy himself/herself and shall issue the certificate of recognition as laid down under sub-rule (5) above:
Provided further that if the school does not claim recognition by fulfilling the required norms and standards within the period specified in the provisional certificate, it shall cease to be a recognised school and running of such a school shall be punishable under section 19 of the Act. The authority granting recognition shall issue an order in writing detailing reasons for non-grant of recognition to the school. The order shall be pasted at a prominent place in the school and will be put on the public domain. This order shall also contain the name /names of the neighbourhood school/ schools where the children of the unrecognised school will be admitted.
(8) For renewal of recognition for a school after three years, the application shall be submitted to the Inspecting Officer in Form-1 by 30th November of the preceding year. The Inspecting Officer after ensuring the continued fulfillment of the norms and standards prescribed in the Schedule to the Act and the conditions laid down under sub-rule (1) of rule 12, shall forward the application along with his recommendation and the designated authority will renew the recognition for three more years.
LA GAZETTE DE L'ETAT [PART–II330
(9) For opening a new school and for starting the next higher c l a s s / s t a g e , t h e a p p l i c a t i o n s h a l l b e s u b m i t t e d i n F o r m - 1 by 30th November of the preceding year and the procedure for recognition is the same as specified under sub-rules (1) to (5) of rule 12.
(10) No new school shall be opened after the commencement of the Act without obtaining recognition certificate issued under section 18 of the Act.
(11) The recognition certificate issuing authority shall inspect or cause to inspect the school every year to verify fulfillment of conditions of recognition.
(12) Information of recognition of any school will be sent to the Local Authority so that local public representatives have knowledge of establishment of a recognised private school.