EXPERTS CHIDE CBSE RULES ON CLASS STRENGTH

The decision of the CBSE to allow schools to register up to 45 students per section instead of 40 has been criticised by education experts and activists. The ideal class size is less than 30 students, they said.

The Board has allowed greater intake after schools were found to have more students than permitted while collating data for the Online Affiliated School Information System (OASIS). The Board has advised the schools to contact the concerned regional office in case they have excess students.

Experts said students for a class or section room should not be more than the studentsection ratio permitted and the decision by the Board was not acceptable.

Centre for Educational Research and Analysis (CERA), Convener N. Narayana said, “The students for a class or section room should not be more than 20 at primarylevel, 30 at secondarylevel and 40 at senior secondary level. Hence, the CBSE rule for 45 was not acceptable.”

“Cost-cutting and quantity or capacity beyond the permitted norm will directly impact the quality of education. The Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) should focus on the quality of education and should not compromise on quality of education,” he added.

Education activist M. S.R.K Chaitanya said, “This will adversely affect the teacher student interaction and the renting of seats is common among private schools. This will only encourage the private schools to rent out more seats to private coaching.”