Sinhgad Schools Derecognition Stayed by Court: What Parents in Narhe, Ambegaon, Warje and Kondhwa Should Know

Pune, 8th November 2026: The court has stayed the Education Department’s action to cancel the recognition of 13 schools run by the Sinhgad Technical Education Society in Pune. The stay was granted at a hearing on Friday, 6 November, so students in these schools can keep studying as usual for now.

The order to derecognise the schools was issued by Deputy Director of Education Machhindranath Kadam after teachers went unpaid for months and stopped teaching in protest.

Which Sinhgad schools are affected

News reports have named 10 of the 13 schools. The other three have not been named so far.

Secondary schools:

• Sinhgad College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Narhe
• Sinhgad College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Ambegaon
• Sinhgad College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Kondhwa
• Sinhgad Public School, Khusgaon
• RMD Springdale Secondary School, Warje
• RMD Springdale Secondary School, Karvenagar-Erandwane

Primary schools:

• Sinhgad Springdale School, Ambegaon
• Sinhgad Springdale Public School, Vadgaon
• Sinhgad City School, Kondhwa
• RMD Sinhgad Springdale School, Warje

What the court stay means for students right now

Classes continue and nothing changes for the current academic year. Even before the stay, the derecognition was set to take effect only from 1 May 2027, the start of the 2027-28 year, as reported by Punekar News.

The original order also asked education officers and the PMC’s education department to shift students to nearby recognised schools. That plan is now on hold.

“The High Court has directed a stay on this action,” Deputy Director Kadam told The Free Press Journal. He said the department will decide its next step based on the court’s further orders.

Why the Education Department acted against Sinhgad schools

Teaching and non-teaching staff at these schools had not been paid for about 18 months, according to Punekar News and Civic Mirror. Teachers boycotted classes in protest, and an Education Department inspection found that lessons were badly disrupted.

The department had told the society to clear all pending and regular salaries by 29 June 2026. It did not. A hearing followed on 20 July 2026, and the order cited Rules 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 of the Secondary School Code.

What the Sinhgad society said in its defence

At the July hearing, the society said its schools are self-financed and that costs rose sharply after the Seventh Pay Commission. It also blamed parents who pay fees late.

Its main argument was money owed by the state. The society said about Rs 10.5 crore in Right to Education (RTE) fee reimbursement for 2017 to 2026 is still pending, and that it could pay teachers once this arrives, as reported by Pudhari and Navarashtra. The department did not accept this, given how long salaries had been due.

What parents should do now

• Keep your child in the current school. There is no order to move students this year.
• Watch for written notices from the school and the Education Department about the next hearing.
• If you are deciding on admissions for 2027-28, ask the school in writing about its recognition status before paying next year’s fees.
• Keep copies of fee receipts and the school leaving certificate details in case a transfer is needed later.

Diwali holidays are on now. Our story on Maharashtra school Diwali vacation dates has the reopening schedule.

What is still not known

The date of the next hearing and the full text of the court’s order have not been published. The names of three of the 13 schools are also not public yet.

Faculty at the same society’s engineering college have also protested over unpaid salaries, as Punekar News reported earlier. We will update this story after the next court hearing. More school news is in our Education section.

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