The state government on Friday reiterated its intention to enact a piece of legislation to exercise “minimum control” over all private schools, aided or unaided.

The act, to be framed on the basis of suggestions from the schools themselves, will protect the minority rights of the institutions run by Christian missionaries, school education minister Partha De clarified.

The education department now does not have any control over private schools, including the ones that receive financial aid from the government.

De conveyed the government’s decision to frame the law to various Christian groups, including Bangiya Christiya Pariseba, at a meeting in Salt Lake. Herod Mullick, general secretary of the Bangiya Christiya Pariseba, welcomed the move to seek suggestions from the schools.

The organisations met the minister to discuss some of their long-standing demands related to the functioning of the 700-odd missionary schools across the state.

Later in the day, he made a public announcement at a programme organised by the All Bengal Teachers’ Association, a CPM-controlled lobby of secondary teachers, at Esplanade.

“The state will not infringe on the minority rights of the missionary schools, guaranteed by the Constitution. But the schools should also remember that they are not beyond law,” De said.

“The act will be based entirely on the proposals submitted by the schools,” De told Metro. “Our stand is not to interfere in the activities of these institutions. So, we will ask the authorities to submit detailed proposals on how they would like to run their institutions. Once legislation is enacted, the schools should not have any problem abiding by it, as it is based entirely on their views.”

Sources said the government has decided to seek suggestions from the schools to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment it faced over the School Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2006.

The bill, seeking to make it mandatory for all state-aided missionary institutions to recruit teachers through the school service commission, was passed in the Assembly in February.

But widespread protest by the schools and other organisations forced the government to withdraw it in July.