NAGPUR: Education minister Vinod Tawde on Friday said the state would take action if after conducting inquiries it finds CBSE and ICSE schools flouting state services rules on salaries, incentives and leaves to their teaching staff.

He was answering queries posed in the assembly by legislators about the alleged exploitation of teachers by St Xavier and Ryan group schools in Mumbai. Tawde agreed there were reports that schools from the Ryan group were not following government regulations pertaining to leaves, working days and other rules concerning teaching staff.

“It’s true that Mumbai’s deputy director of education has received complaints against these schools that graduate teachers are given salaries approved for non-graduate, which puts teaching staff under stress,” he said. “Some teachers were being forced to take unpaid leaves and face disciplinary action.”

Tawde said the government was looking into the complaints of non-payment of salaries to teachers in accordance with the regulations and their educational qualification.

Some of the teacher complaints pointed out by Sadanand Chavan and other legislators were non-compliance with the rules on leave encashment and with class allotment based on educational qualification.

Neti Srinivasan, chief operating officer of the Ryan group of schools, said he was unaware of the issue and did not know whether an inquiry was underway.

Private schools in the city, apart from those which follow the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, are not bound by any specific act, but these schools do require a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the state.

“They do not follow the Maharashtra Employees of Private School Act but they need to pay teachers according to the Sixth Pay Commission and also follow leave rules as prescribed by the state,” Bhimrao Phadtare, deputy director of school education, Mumbai division, said. He said the state can take action against schools which flout these rules and cancel the NOC.

