Schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in Tiruchi region have begun the process of getting School Assessment and Accreditation.
It is in line with the CBSE that has made compulsory for the affiliated schools to get accreditation within three years. Although the CBSE sent circulars to all of its affiliated schools in 2014, asking them to get accreditation, no school in the region has so far been accredited. However, there are reports that most schools have decided to apply for accreditation. Some schools that have applied for accreditation are expecting the visit of empanelled committees notified by the CBSE.
The assessment and accreditation is aimed at enhancing the qualities of schools in order to benefit all stakeholders including students, teachers, and management. It is aimed at indicating and informing the stakeholders on strength of schools on infrastructure, human resource, and performance.
As per the process, the intended schools will have to submit online application along with the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Scheme (SQAAS) details. They will have to provide all necessary information such as students, teachers, and their qualification, school infrastructure, library, and sports facilities along with evidences and documents. They will be collated and analysed a Peer Assessment Team (PAT) to provide marks. PAT will visit only those schools with a score of 50 per cent in the SQAAS process.
It will gather data, views, and opinion from students, teachers, non-teaching staff, and parents through questionnaires. The data will be physically verified by PAT members.
It is expected that PAT will visit at least five schools in Tiruchi alone for physical verification and interaction.
Stating that time had come for complying with the assessment and accreditation process, an academician, who runs a CBSE school in Tiruchi, said the managements were preparing to meet all parameters.
The process would help the institutions for self evaluation. The schools that had poor facilities would be compelled to improve them. This in turn would help students and teachers in the long run.
