CBSE asked to list inspections carried out at private schools in last 10 years

April 26, 2018 01:21 am | Updated 08:06 am IST - CHENNAI

NEW DELHI, 15/03/2018: Class XII students after writing the CBSE Board Accounts Exam, even as there were rumours of question paper leak in New Delhi on March 15, 2018. 
Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI, 15/03/2018: Class XII students after writing the CBSE Board Accounts Exam, even as there were rumours of question paper leak in New Delhi on March 15, 2018. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to explain by Friday the number of surprise inspections it had carried out in private schools, affiliated to it across the country, in the last 10 years in order to ensure that the institutions were complying with the norms.

Justice N. Kirubakaran also wanted the CBSE to list the number of schools whose affiliations had been cancelled for reasons such as absence of infrastructural facilities, failure to renew the affiliation and non-adherence to the books and syllabus prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The interim orders were passed on a writ petition filed by advocate M. Purushothaman accusing a majority of CBSE-affiliated private schools of overburdening the students with too much of academic work than what had been prescribed by the NCERT. The petitioner had accused the CBSE of having failed to keep a check on the private schools.

“CBSE is a complete failure in this country and it is evident from last year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test results. Nearly 65% of those who passed the NEET were State Board students and not CBSE students though NEET itself is conducted by the CBSE on the basis of the syllabus prescribed by it,” the advocate argued.

However, the CBSE counsel told the court that it would be able to take action against schools only as and when it receives complaints. Not in agreement with such a submission, the judge wondered how the board with a manpower of 1,815 staff would be able to effectively monitor over 18,000 private schools affiliated to it.

Engaging third parties

Mr. Justice Kirubakaran said it was very unfortunate that the CBSE had to engage third parties such as school principals even for inspection of private schools before granting affiliation. “What if such third parties are bought over by the schools which seek affiliation? They are not your staff and you won’t have any control over them,” the judge said.

He wanted the CBSE to spell out the funds and manpower requirements also so that the court could direct the Centre to provide necessary assistance. Further, an Association of Managements of Private Schools (CBSE), which had impleaded itself in the present case, was asked to list out its members who were following only the NCERT syllabus.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.