Board director RK Chaturvedi clarifies that schools will have to follow fee structure decided by state govt
If the schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in state had any doubts regarding the jurisdiction of state government over them, chairman of the board, RK Chaturvedi, has put these to rest. The schools are obliged to follow the norms laid by the state government, including rulings of the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) with regard to fee structure, he reiterated. He stated that while schools are affiliated to CBSE, the board does not have control over fees charged by them.“The norms of the state government (where the CBSE school is located) are applicable to CBSE schools as well,“ he said.
When asked about his take on Chaturvedi’s statement, Manan Choksi, executive director of Udgam School, said, “So far, there is no such clarity about fee structure in CBSE by-laws. It will be nice to have clarity if CBSE comes out with a circular in this regard.“
Welcoming the clarification, Sanjiv Jain, a parent, said, “Now, schools must adhere to the The Gujarat Self Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017 and start capping the fee.Having said this, I am keen to know how government tackles with the non-cooperative CBSE schools.“
Another parent, Vinit Pohani, expressed hope that now all CBSE schools would follow the FRC rules and stop harassing parents and students in the name of fees.
Third party rating for schools
Chaturvedi revealed that the board was in process of implementing a third party rating for affiliated schools across the country and aimed at completing the work before the start of the academic session in 2018. “The proposal to start the accreditation rating is on a fast track. We are deciding the qualifying criteria for accreditation. This will be voluntary participation and rating will be done by a third party,“ he said.
Elaborating on the accreditation process, he said the rating would be decided on the basis of the school’s results, quality of education imparted, quality of teachers, teacher retention, feedback of students and parents, happiness index and infrastructure among other points.
Vice-Principal of Prakash Higher Secondary School Mrugen Shah welcomed the idea of accreditation system but raised doubts over its efficacy.
“Firstly, before starting the accreditation, there should be clarity about the criteria. Secondly, local parents al ready know about the quality of the school. The only section that may benefit from the ratings would be the parents who move from one city to another,“ he said.
Pragya Pandya, Principal of St Kabir school, opined that the concept will be useful overall . “Improvement and competition is always welcome. Parents will benefit from this. Not only will this give parents an idea about the merit of schools but also push nonperforming schools to improve their standards,“ she stated.
CBSE to offer another entrepreneurship course
CBSE chairman RK Chaturvedi was in Ahmedabad on Saturday to attend a workshop for teachers of CBSE-affiliated schools at EDI. The institute and CBSE will work together to design a vocational course on entrepreneurship. he new course is being developed keeping in mind application based utility for class 11 and 12 students. EDI Director Sunil Shukla said that the programme will be developed keeping in mind students who wants to have their own start-ups and businesses.
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 27th August 2017
