Haryana Board derecognises 515 schools; Palwal, Rewari, Yamuna Nagar lead in count

The Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH) has derecognised 515 schools found to be operating in violation of the state’s school board education rules. According to the list of unrecognised schools published by the board, Palwal, Rewari, and Yamuna Nagar have the highest number of schools operating illegally.

The sweeping crackdown on unrecognised schools comes in an effort to uphold the educational standard and shut down illegal institutions from operating in the state. There are a total of 14,295 government schools functioning in the state.

In January 2025, the Haryana Board invited applications from the schools in existence before the commencement of the Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, to apply for “provisional, temporary affiliation to existing, unrecognized private schools on year to year for the academic session 2024-25”.

As per the list, the districts with more than 20 unrecognised schools include - Bhiwani (29), Fatehabad (28), Gurugram (22), Jhajjar (26), Kaithal (35), Karnal (39), Palwal (75), Rewari (90), and Yamuna Nagar (40).

On July 15 last year, the board said that all permanent and provisionally recognized schools, which are affiliated to Haryana Board of School Education, will be inspected from time to time by the Board office. It also warned of strict actions against the schools that do not follow the rules set by the board.

Haryana School Education Rules

The Haryana School Education Rules-2003, which came into effect on April 30, 2003, states: “No school in the State can function, establish or start classes without the prior approval or permission of the Director. Every school established by any individual or association of individuals or firm or society or trust or company, shall follow the norms specified under these rules.”

The schools found not complying with the rules will attract a penalty not exceeding Rs 15,000 in case of primary schools, Rs 20,000 in case of middle schools, Rs 25,000 in case of secondary and senior secondary schools. The rules state that any “disobedience on the part of the school” may lead to “discontinuing the functioning of such schools; or to be prosecuted under the relevant law if such disobedience or act causes or tends to cause danger to the life, health, and safety of the students”.

The board had reiterated that the Haryana Board of School Education (HBSE) is the only government board in Haryana state which is authorized to issue certificates for the HBSE Class 10, 12 academic and open school examinations.