The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Thursday told the Madras High Court that it was issuing circulars periodically instructing all private schools affiliated with it to follow only the books published by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and not of private publishers.
Writ petition
The submission was made before Justice N. Kirubakaran, who was seized of a writ petition filed by advocate M. Purushothaman accusing a majority of the private schools, affiliated to the CBSE, of dumping too many subjects as well as books other than those prescribed by the NCERT .
When the judge wanted to know what action the CBSE had taken so far against schools which defy its circulars, the board’s counsel told the court that action could be initiated against the schools only if the parents or any other person lodged a specific complaint.
It was also brought to the notice of the court that the entire staff strength of CBSE was only 1,185 and it would be impossible for the affiliating body to monitor the activities of all 18,000 schools.
