CBSE steps up monitoring of affiliated schools

CHANDIGARH: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Chandigarh office has now stepped up monitoring of the functioning of schools affiliated with it.
CBSE regional officer PI Sabu said that the office was compiling a list of all such schools not following the specifications laid down by the board. In this regard, the office has been acting on complaints and leads from various sources on irregularities in running the schools.The listed schools are being referred to the board headquarters at New Delhi for further action.
As a manifestation of its drive to streamline the functioning of the schools, the board recently disaffiliated Kurukshetra based Holy Child School. CBSE sources said that the school had not applied for extension of provisional affiliation that expired on March 31, 1999.
The discrepancy came to light early this year when the school submitted an expired affiliation letter with the examination form.
That the school students had been appearing for CBSE examinations all these years is a pointer to the official laxity on the part of board.
Sources say that all such schools were given ample time to get an extension of the provisional affiliation after the matter came to light. However, the school was not able to fulfil the stipulations laid down by the board. The school subsequently filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the CBSE order. The court however upheld the board’s contention on the issue.
The school was found falling short of the CBSE affiliation bye-laws on account of non-payment of salaries to the staff as per the recommendations of fifth pay commission and lack of adequate teaching staff.
The school also did not maintain adequate reserve fund in the joint name of the management of the school and CBSE. It was also found to be lacking a qualified principal.
CBSE sources, however, say that the students already enrolled in class X will be allowed to take their examinations in March 2004.
Sabu avers that the board had made it clear that the schools not following the various affiliation bye-laws would be liable to disaffiliation in the coming days.