Chunabhatti Orchids International School Ordered To Shut Down, Fined Rs 1 Lakh
Education authorities have ordered the Orchids International School in Chunabhatti, Mumbai, to shut down after declaring it unauthorized, leaving parents shocked as the new academic year begins. Mushtaq Shaikh, the education officer of the Mumbai North region, issued the order and levied a fine of Rs 1,00,000 on the school management for operating without the required government permissions.
The school management also faces an additional penalty of Rs 10,000 per day if the institution continues to function despite the closure order. A complaint has also been filed against the school at the Chunabhatti police station.
According to education authorities, the school was officially declared unauthorized in March 2026, with a formal letter sent to the management on March 18. Under the rules of the Right To Education (RTE) Act, any institution receiving a Letter of Intent (LOI) to start a school must obtain final approval from the government within 18 months, after completing the necessary infrastructure. Because the Chunabhatti school continued to run without this final approval, it was ordered to shut down.
The education department had also placed a notice at the school gate in April to announce that the school was unauthorized. However, parents claimed they were kept in the dark and misguided by the management, which charged them full fees for the new academic year while assuring them there was no cause for concern.
Instead of resuming classes in the first week of June, parents were instructed to relocate their children to one of the school’s other branches in Kurla, Mulund, or Masjid Bandar. This has caused significant distress among families. One parent, who lives in Sion, questioned how they could confirm admission to far-off branches, stating that the school should have offered these options before taking the fees. Another parent mentioned that their child already spends over an hour on the school bus to reach Chunabhatti, making relocation to distant branches unfeasible.
In response to the situation, the school's operations manager, Rahul, stated that a new circular has been issued to parents with updated information. He claimed that final approval is expected soon and that the school expects to resume operations at the Chunabhatti location by July.
