KOZHIKODE: The stage is set for the mushrooming of a large number of CBSE schools which would function without any control of the state government.
Though the state government has taken a decision not to issue no objection certificates (NOC) to new schools, it would be forced to reconsider the policy if the recent developments are anything to go by. For affiliation of a school with the CBSE, an NOC from the state government is a pre-requisite.
The CBSE has a rigorous process of affiliation and only those schools which obtain state government NOC are given affiliation. However, the state has not been issuing NOCs to new CBSE schools for the past five years.
Peeved at this stand, three schools recently approached the High Court and contended that schools in other states have obtained affiliation from CBSE without the state government’s NOC.
The court has directed CBSE to conduct an inspection of such schools and decide whether they could be granted affiliation even in the absence of NOC from the state government. The CBSE has around 1,350 affiliated schools in Kerala.
According to a source, around 500 schools in the state, which meet the norms, are in a queue to obtain the national board’s affiliation without the state government’s NOC. There are reports that such schools would take legal recourse if the state government’s doesn’t budge from its stand.
When contacted, CBSE Regional Officer, Tarun Kumar, said a final decision on the matter would be taken by the affiliation unit of the board in New Delhi. “The decision will be based on the existing affiliation bylaws and orders of the High Court,” he said.
Huge repercussion
Educators have warned the proliferation of schools without the state government’s consent will have far-reaching implications. They believe that such institutions would become a ‘law unto themselves’ and pay scant regard to state government norms.
“Already, many schools that obtained the state’s NOC are violating most of the norms relating to infrastructure, student safety and teachers’ salary. Imagine a scenario when another bunch of schools would start functioning without being answerable at all to the state government.
This would result in anarchy,” said education activist M Shajarkhan.Till now, the government used to wield the ‘NOC withdrawal’ stick to make CBSE schools fall in line.
With the new development, it will be tough for state to make such schools comply with its orders as well as fiats issued by bodies such as State Child Rights Commission, educators said.