Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government is planning to launch a state-wide drive to check mushrooming of private schools with unqualified and untrained staff, education department sources said on Thursday.

"We have already summoned staff records pertaining to educational qualification and training of teachers from the 7,000-odd private schools in the state," a senior official with the state board directorate in Allahabad told IANS by phone.

The campaign against the private schools aims to ensure whether the teachers, particularly the part-timers, are appointed according to norms, the official added.

This move by the government comes after repeated complaints by Om Prakash Sharma, leader of the teachers' group in the state legislative council.

"The move was long overdue. If the exercise is conducted in letter and spirit, it would reveal startling facts about the functioning of private schools," Sharma told IANS.