India, June 20 -- Fifty-three schools across the city, all of them based in slum settlements, have been booked for operating without government authorisation, based on complaints from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). All 53 schools were among 164 schools declared illegal by the BMC and asked to shut down in February this year, and first information reports (FIRs) were registered against them after they failed to abide by directions, said Nisar Khan, deputy education officer of the BMC's private school section.

"Students enrolled in the 53 schools would be admitted to other schools as per their age, without any school leaving certificate, as certificates issued by illegal schools have no legal value," Khan said.

Among the 53...