Regulatory mechanism for CBSE schools

Stressing the need for a regulatory mechanism for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools, Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the schools will be made “accountable” as far as their quality of education and charging of “unreasonable” fees was concerned.

It has come to light that once they get affiliation, there are no restrictions on these (CBSE) schools. Even the state government officials cannot go to the CBSE schools. I will put an end to this and there will be accountability as all these schools have to offer good education and charge reasonable fees,” he said in Pune. It is good that private schools are coming, but all these institutions should not become business... We are in the process of formulating a policy (for CBSE schools) as we want co-existence of government and private schools to improve the quality of education,” he said.

Later, while talking to reporters, Javadekar said private institutions should strive for quality education and not bring the commercial aspect into education. “The fees should be reasonable. There are complaints from parents that all these schools charge unreasonable fees,” he said. The BJP leader said the state board schools have a dedicated education department, which has an established administrative (regulatory) mechanism.

“However, the CBSE does not have such a system and there is a need for this kind of system as the number of these schools is increasing in the country. We are thinking on how to go about it,” he said. Javadekar also noted that the government has resolved to reform teachers’ education in the country.

The minister said the ministry was now seeking affidavits from all B.Ed and D.Ed colleges.

Javadekar congratulated Maharashtra and Rajashtan “where a trend is being seen that parents are pulling their wards from private English medium schools and enrolling them in Zilla Parishad schools.