PFI Case: Blue Bells School Operates Without Authorization and Fake Accreditation – Pune Education Department
Pune, 18th April 2023: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sealed two floors of the building which also houses Blue Bells School in the Ashrafnagar locality of Kondhwa, claiming they were being used to plan terrorist activities.
Today, the Education Department launched an investigation into the school and discovered shocking information that the school was operating without authorization. Pune Division Deputy Director of Education Audumbar Ukirde has stated that a case will be filed against the school.
Following the NIA’s action, the Education Department sent a team of officials to investigate the school. The inquiry has revealed that the school possesses a bogus recognition certificate. While the school has a letter signed by the former Deputy Director of Education, the inward and outward number of this letter is not available with the office of the Deputy Director of Education. It has also been revealed that the approval letter of this school bears a fake signature.
Ukirde has commented, “Blue Bells is a self-financed school that started in 2019, offering classes from 1st to 12th. The approval certificate of Pune Divisional Deputy Director of Education available with this school is bogus. We need to verify whether the state government approval certificate is genuine or fake.”
The inquiry report on this school has been submitted to the state education commissioner Suraj Mandhare for further action.
According to the school management, the Blue Bells School has no relation with PFI whatsoever. The KZ Knowledge Centre, where the school is located, is owned by Aqilahmed Siddiqui and the school operates from rented premises within the building. The building has four storeys and a terrace, with an Urdu School on the ground and first floors, and Blue Bells School on the second and third floors. The school has permission from the Mantralaya for all its departments.
The NIA has sealed the fourth and fifth floors of the building which were rented to PFI.
Reshma Shaikh, the Principal of Blue Bells School, shared the journey of running the self-aided school with her husband. Established in 2019, the school operates under the Seva Foundation trust and is currently rented from the KZ Knowledge Centre. Fazal-e-Karim, her husband, serves as the Chief Trustee of the foundation. The school caters to 380 students, from nursery to Class X, most of whom come from lower middle-class families, with many being the children of labourers. It is the only English medium institution that these families can afford. The school had its first batch of 13 students appearing for the Board exams this year, she informed.
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