School may move court over principal posting

Updated on: Thursday, June 16, 2011

St Mary's School in Mazgaon reopened on Wednesday, but the school's management plans to move court against the deputy director of school education for not approving the principal's post.

The deputy director had said the appointment of the school's principal was illegal. This was one of the 10 charges levelled against the school in the derecognition order passed on May 24.

The deputy director's office said a principal from a school belonging to the same trust cannot be transferred by the management. Instead, the principal will have to resign formally and apply afresh to the school, even if it's run by the same trust's school. Father Baptist Pinto, who is acting as the principal, is yet to receive his appointment orders from the education department. Before the transfer, Pinto was the principal at St Xavier's School, Marine Lines. An official from the school said the principal cannot be transferred from one school to another, according to the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (MEPS) Act, 1981. According to the Act, the principal will have to resign and apply afresh to the new school, even if it belongs to the same trust.

Pinto confirmed that the school is planning to file a writ petition in court against the deputy director's office. "The writ petition is not against the derecognition order. There is anyway a stay on it. We have to wait for the director's further order."

The Archdiocesan Board of Education, to which city's convent schools are affiliated, also backs the school's move.

"We are planning to move the court for not approving the principal in a day or two," said Gregory Lobo, secretary of the ABE.

According to point six of the de-recognition order passed by the deputy director's office, Father Baptist Pinto's appointment as a principal of the school has been termed illegal. The notice states, 'St Xavier's and St Mary's are schools run by two different managements. And both the managements have no other branch anywhere. In-house transfers can be done for two schools run by a single management. However, Father Baptist Pinto's transfer from St Xavier's to St Mary's is not allowed as both schools is run by two different managements'.

Times of India

School may move court over principal posting

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