CBSE schools to adopt new norms

Quality Council of India (QCI)-approved governance standards in education will soon be adopted in all the 12,000 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-affiliated schools in the country, said the secretary-general of QCI, Dr Girdhar G Gyani, while announcing that the 5th National Quality Conclave will be held on February19-20 in New Delhi.

"As a pilot project, 20 CBSE-affiliated schools in New Delhi have been evaluated by our experts on these governance standards, and soon all the CBSE-affiliated 12,000 schools in India will adopt them," Gyani said.

"By introducing these standards in education, we aim to focus on holistic development of children - their academic, physical, social and ethical development. Besides, other aspects of schools like
infrastructure, hygiene etc will also be taken into account," he said.

The 900-odd Kendriya Vidyalayas across India have already adopted these governance standards. "Now, we are in talks with several state governments to introduce them in state-run schools also," he added. State governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh have evinced interest in adopting these standards, he said.

Gujarat has offered to set up an accreditation board affiliated to QCI for implementing these standards in state-run schools, a model that can be replicated in other states as well, he added.