New Delhi: The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is working towards arming the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) with its own Act.

The CBSE Bill being drafted by the ministry aims at giving a better legal standing to the Board as it readies for an international expansion and to ensure that state legislations do not come in the way when schools seek CBSE affiliation.

“One primary reason is to help CBSE acquire a better legal position and credibility as it is launched as an international board. While it can do so now as well, but the CBSE registered under a Societies Act will have less of a standing internationally than when it comes backed with an Act passed by Parliament,” sources said.

“That apart, there are several cases when state governments resist allowing schools in their state to shift to CBSE from state education board. Since the CBSE is registered as a society and state education boards are largely established through legislations, the latter will always have an upper hand. With Central legislation backing CBSE, it will naturally acquire precedence as well as prominence,” said a source in CBSE.

As per present affiliation norms, a school must have the approval of the respective state government before the CBSE grants it affiliation. While the CBSE has some 10,000 schools affiliated to it, the states’ resistance, it is learnt, is a reason why the Board is not able to expand further. For instance, the Kerala government has not granted a No Objection Certificate to scores of schools applying for CBSE affiliation over the past few years. With no NOC coming from the state, the CBSE has its hands tied and is unable to expand in the state.

With the ministry pushing for expansion of the CBSE and a series of reform measures underway like switching from marks-based assessments to a grade-based assessment system, making Class X boards optional, moving away from the end of the year exam centric format to a continued and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) and working overall to reduce the stress on students, a roadmap is being charted out to not only establish the Board as a model one but also one of international standing.

Planning a new curriculum
CBSE International is expected to roll out in time for the next academic session and will offer flexibility in curriculum keeping in mind regional aspirations and context. It will be posited as a value-for-money international board of education with the traditional CBSE strengths in the science and maths streams. To cater to an international student’s requirements, changes will be made in curriculum and examination systems.

While Science, Mathematics, English curriculum would hardly require any tweaking, changes in the Social Studies curriculum would have to be brought about for schools in other countries as CBSE currently focuses on Indian history, geography, art and culture. The CBSE is working towards expanding base outside India like the UK-based

IGCSE affiliated to the University of Cambridge and Geneva-based International Baccalaureate. While there are 125 schools abroad affiliated to the CBSE, many in West Asia, these are essentially schools run by NRIs catering to the Indian diaspora.

Source:Express