By IANS,
Chandigarh : Chandigarh’s oldest boys school has sought the intervention of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions against the union territory administration for “interfering” in the school’s internal matters. However, officials have denied the charge of interference.
St John’s High School, which was established in 1959, complained to the commission Thursday against senior officials including Chandigarh’s home-cum-education secretary and the district education officer (DEO), accusing them of “illegitimately interfering” in the school’s internal matters.
This followed an inquiry initiated a few weeks back, after parents of a student accused an arts teacher of the school of corrupting the minds of students by showing them vulgar websites and by insisting they join adult social networking sites. The administration had also sought the response of the school.
On Wednesday, the administration declared the teacher guilty and also accused the principal of shielding him. The school has criticised the report as one-sided.
“The report given by the DEO is totally illegal and against all principles of natural justice. It only strengthens the belief that the home secretary is being vindictive towards the school. They did not serve any notice or report to us but we came to know about their declaration from media reports,” a school spokesman said Friday.
“The school being a minority educational institution, the home secretary has no authority to interfere in its internal affairs. They asked for our reply and we submitted it but nobody intimated us about the inquiry. Based on our complaint, the commission has served notice to both home secretary and the DEO,” he added.
The commission has sent a notice to Chandigarh administration, asking it to “stop the deliberate and wilful attempt to interfere in the running of the school”.
However, Home-cum-Education Secretary Ram Niwas denied the charges. “We did not interfere in the school’s internal affairs. We know our limitations and we would not follow any illegal path,” he said.