Parents usually conduct background checks of institutions before admitting their children to schools. They ask for recommendations from other parents, check schools’ websites, and interact with schools’ officials to get a clear understanding.
In the recent past, as many parents found, their research was not enough, as the government sent notices to hundreds of schools for falsely claiming central board affiliation, even though they only had state board affiliation.
The lack of a means to verify a school’s affiliation has left parents baffled. “Most of us go by whatever the school puts in front of us,” said Shweta P, a parent from Sunkadkatte.
“If it says Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), that is what we believe. As parents, quality education is important to us, and when a school has multiple branches and hundreds of students, we believe it has to be good. The recent turn of events has made all of us mad, but we are also wondering how to verify the affiliation of the schools,” she said.
display affiliation code
In addition, parents want schools to clearly display their affiliation codes on their boards and websites. BN Yogananda, president, Karnataka Private School College Parents Association Coordination Committee, said, “Despite a rule that mandates the display of affiliation codes on boards, this is not happening.”
“Parents have no other option but to check the status. When a new school is opened, they should run it under the state board for five years. Nowadays, based on the certificates obtained by the old branches of their schools, they claim Central Board affiliation for the new branches as well,” he said.
The parents also point to the possible involvement of education department officials in running schools with false affiliations. “Without the cooperation of Block Education Officers (BEOs) and Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs), and other officials, how could such schools run for so long? There is a rule that all BEOs should find the list of such illegal or unregistered schools and publish it on the website, but they have not done so,” said Mr. Yogananda.
There is also the worry of students being deprived of an academic year if the government closes such schools. The parents have started collecting the transfer certificates, but have no idea about the next step.
All India Democratic Students’ Organization (AIDSO) state secretary Ajay Kamath said, “To save the future of students who are already enrolled or studying in such schools, appropriate steps will be taken by the government to continue their education.” should be taken up.” ,
Another question raised by the parents was why the government or the education minister did not issue any clarification in this regard. “More than the money paid, what matters is the future of our children. Will his years of education be discarded, or will he be allowed to continue where he left off? Will it be considered as State Board or Central Board of Education? There is a lot of confusion,” said Manasa (name changed), a parent.
awareness campaign
The parents said that the Public Instruction Department should launch a public campaign and prepare a list of schools which are unregistered or have false affiliations. “DDPI and BEO should list the schools in their limits and thus help the parents,” said Mr. Yoganand. The association also demanded that the fee money should be recovered from such schools and returned to the parents.