CBSE to offer help to those who lost Board certificates in Kerala floods

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is planning to help Kerala students whose board exam certificates were lost or damaged in the floods get duplicate ones after requests from several school associations in the state.

A senior CBSE official said the board was considering putting in place a system that would enable its regional offices in Kerala to issue new certificates as soon as possible. Formal directions to this effect are likely soon.

Although most of the academic documents till 2004 are available on an online Central Board of Secondary Education academic repository, it is still very new and involves procedures that will take time. The board intends to expedite the process in the case of flood-hit students.

“A number of associations affiliated to the CBSE have approached us. In most cases, either the certificates have been lost or they are not in a good condition. We will help them get new certificates issued and the entire process will be expedited,” the official said.

Board exam certificates are crucial for admission to higher education institutions, to apply for jobs and even as proof of date of birth. There are over 1,300 schools affiliated to the CBSE in Kerala.

Another board official said academic certificates were available online on the Parinam Manjusha, the CBSE academic repository, launched earlier.

“For this year, students can access certificates through DigiLocker. Till 2004, they are available online but we need to facilitate things so that there is no delay. We will issue directions on how it can be speeded up,” said the official.

For certificates before 2004, the CBSE will allow candidates to make applications, after which hard copies would be issued on a priority basis.