LEGAL FORMALITIES FOR STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school is a major challenge and at the same time it is an extraordinary opportunity to serve the noble cause of imparting education. Apart from being a rewarding & profitable venture, opening a school involves ample amount of paperwork, legal processes and acquisition of licenses at various stages from the authorities concerned. Despite this, many entrepreneurs are coming forward to start their own school as demand for more and more schools seems to be unending. In case you are also opening a new school and want to know about the legal formalities for starting a school, go through the following pointers.
Every school must be set up as a not-for-profit business. So firstly, you are required to form a Society/Company/Trust registered under the Societies Registration Act (1860)/Companies Act (1956)/Indian Trust Act (1882).
While forming the Society/Company/Trust you also need to have a Memorandum of Association which is needed at almost every stage. It is a document which must include the names and other important details of all the members of your association.
You also need to prepare a detailed project report of your school giving all the necessary details of land and the school building, funding options, bank statements of your school’s governing entity, number of educators and students that you wish to admit in your school etc.
Another pre-requisite is the Essentiality Certificate (EC) that you need to obtain from the state’s Department of Education (DoE). This document certifies the need for a school in a specific location. You need to submit a set of documents and a prescribed fee along with the application form. The list of these documents are:
Memorandum of association
Undertaking regarding fee structure
Project report of your school
Enrolment of students
Document regarding ownership of land (in case of personal property)
Along with the EC, you will also require a “Letter of Intent” from the DoE on the basis of which land will be allotted to you from the concerned land owing agencies of the state.
Once you begin with the construction, simultaneously you may obtain other secondary licenses like Sanctioned Building Plan, Water Testing report, Health certificate, Permit from the Fire Department etc.
After establishing your school, you need to seek permission & recognition to run your school. The state’s Municipal Corporation grants recognition to primary schools (up to class V) and recognition for secondary school (up to class IX) is granted by DoE. You can further apply for recognition up to X and XII grades from the DoE only after a gap of at least 2 years. Along with the application of recognition you need to submit a set of 17 documents which includes all the aforementioned certificates also.
After completing all the above formalities successfully, you need to gain affiliation to an educational board like CBSE or ICSE. Initially, the school is granted temporary affiliation up to VI standard and the school is expected to adhere to the norms laid down by the board. After a considerable period of time, the board authority conducts an inspection and if the school is found to be in accordance with the board standards, it will be granted with permanent affiliation.
On seeing this long list of legal procedures, if you feel that starting a school is a difficult task, then you are advised to take up a school franchise. SHEMFORD – unit SHEMROCK Chain of Preschools is one of the most trusted and renowned brands in the field of formal education. SHEMFORD provides full support to its franchisees in terms of site selection, financial assistance, acquisition of permissions and licenses, recruitment process, marketing & promotion etc. So, hurry and become a part of SHEMFORD family by filling the franchise application form given here.
