A massive fraud has been going in the name of private high and higher secondary schools across Assam. It's encouraging that the Assam government has finally taken action against the fraud that has been going on for years. In many instances, a number of private schools have allegedly obtained DISE and SEBA Codes by using questionable or unverified documents. There is suspicion that often, a section of officials in the school education board as well as in the education department are also involved in these rackets. Reports say there is a powerful nexus within the government system itself that has allegedly been providing SEBA and DISE codes to several private schools in exchange for huge sums of money, bypassing mandatory documents such as prior permission and registration from the Department of Secondary Education. In certain cases, schools have been functioning without valid government recognition. Many such schools have grossly violated the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. This newspaper reported on Saturday that the Hailakandi district alone has served show-cause notices to 44 such schools. Last week, authorities cancelled the recognition of several private schools in the Nagaon district due to such fraud. Unfortunately, when it comes to the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, government institutions cannot be kept out of the scanner. There have been reports of denial of free education and free admission in several senior secondary schools (erstwhile junior colleges) across Assam. Violations of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act in Assam largely revolve around infrastructural deficits, teacher shortages and denial of free admissions. One reason for these violations is the failure of inspectors to visit schools. Only the education minister's occasional surprise visits can likely rectify the situation.