Principals8217; arrest 8212; Govt to probe racket

MUMBAI, SEPT 15: The Department of School Education, Government of Maharashtra, has decided to set up an inquiry panel under the Directorate of Education, Pune, to investigate the incidents that led to the arrest of three principals in August and September 1999. The principals 8212; S M Lahoti, Thomas Abraham and Prakash Dhoka 8212; were arrested by the Kalachowky police EN: Aug 31, Sept 8 for preparing forged documents to allow ineligible students to take the Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examinations.

Deputy Secretary of Education, J M Abhyankar told Express Newsline that the inquiry is expected to reveal how the Education Department and the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education were kept in the dark about these irregularities.

The English High school for Boys and Girls at Dadar, for instance, had been shutting down one class every year since several years. When Principal S M Lahoti was arrested on August 28, only Std X was operational.The Education Department, which was not apprised of the goings-on, is determined to fix responsibilities for the same, Abhyankar says.

While S M Lahoti, principal of English High School for Boys and Girls, Dadar was arrested on August 28, Thomas Abraham, principal of the Model English Night Junior College at Matunga, and Prakash Dhoka, principal of Smt Snehalata Vasudev Phatak Hind Night High School at Matunga were apprehended on September 6. Lahoti has also been charged with forwarding bogus admission forms to the University of Mumbai.