Hyderabad, Aug 17th: A divisional bench of the High Court on Monday directed the department of school education to close all the unrecognized schools in Visakhapatnam district within three days. The order will have a direct bearing on 457 schools in Vizag. The petition filed by Mr. Srisailam Ramesh, a resident of Gokulnagar in the district to give more time to close down the schools was refused by the bench. The bench granted seven days to the department to initiate punitive action against the unrecognized schools if they were not closed down within three days.

According to the information there were more than 136 schools in Vizag city operating without permission. There are at least 1,500 unrecognized schools in the district out of 42,000 schools in Andhra Pradesh, said sources. The government counsel said the Visakhapatnam DEO had issued a note on June 2, 2006, informing parents that there were 626 schools without government recognition. Later some of the managements applied for the recognition.

The district general secretary of Andhra Pradesh Tutorials and Convents Association, Mr. K. Murali Mohan said the association would appeal to the government for remedial measures. He said that the schools are providing education to children of poor families by charging nominal fee. If schools are shut down then the children will suffer, he alleged.