UP Board fading out of schools?

ON THE WANE As many as 31 institutions in Lucknow have already switched over to CBSE or ISC boards

LUCKNOW: The world’s biggest examination conducting body — the UP Board — is finding it difficult to compete with the CBSE and ISC boards. The growing need for English medium schools and liberal marking pattern in other boards have forced many UP Board educational institutions to switch over to either CBSE or ISC board. Out of 745 UP Board schools in the state capital, 31 have made the switch.

LUCKNOW: The world’s biggest examination conducting body - the UP Board - is finding it difficult to compete with the CBSE and ISC boards. The growing need for English medium schools and liberal marking pattern in other boards have forced many UP Board educational institutions to switch over to either CBSE or ISC board.

Out of 745 UP Board schools in the state capital, 31 have made the switch. St Joseph’s Inter College, Rajajipuram and Lucknow Public School along with 29 others haven’t enrolled new students in Class 9 and 11 (UP Board).

DIOS Umesh Tripathi said registration work is over and nearly 30 schools will not take part in UP Board exams from the city in March.

LPS has several branches in the city. Its Alambagh branch has also snapped ties with the UP Board. The school owners are not willing to come on record to cite the reasons for their decision. However, educationists say that a lot of political interference coupled with growing popularity of ISC and CBSE boards prompted schools to switch over to the other boards. There has been a steady decline in the number of candidates taking the UP Board examination from Lucknow. In the last four years, the number dwindled from 1.15 lakh to 1.08 lakh students while rampant copying has also dented the image of UP