Rajasthan HC orders SITs to check ‘dummy schools’ letting students skip classes for coaching centres

Criticising the existence of “dummy schools”, the Rajasthan High Court on Thursday directed the state government and educational boards to set up a Special Investigation Team to carry out surprise inspections of schools and coaching institutes, The Times of India reported.

Dummy schools are board-affiliated institutes that enrol students preparing for entrance exams such as the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and the Joint Entrance Examination. Unlike traditional schools, they do not require regular classroom attendance, allowing students to spend time at the coaching centres.

Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand said that during the inspections, if a student is found absent from the school while attending the coaching classes, action would be taken against both the educational institutions, Live Law reported.

The observations came while hearing petitions filed by two schools that were de-affiliated for one year by the Central Board of Secondary Education for several alleged deficiencies, including sponsoring dummy admissions and manipulating records to mislead the board, the legal news outlet reported.

Rajasthan, particularly Kota district, has become a hub for coaching institutes, drawing thousands of students from across the country after Class 10 to prepare for college entrance tests.

On Thursday, the court described dummy schools as a “blight” and a “disgrace” to the country’s educational framework, adding that such admissions had become common in the...

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