CBSE has told schools not to indulge in commercial activities, stressing that it violates the rulebook.
Highlights
- CBSE received complaints about schools indulging in commercial activities
- Students are being coerced to buy books not even recommended by CBSE
- Schools ordered to shut shops selling uniforms, stationery
In a strong message to schools that they are only meant to provide quality education and not indulge in commercial activities, the CBSE has told schools to shut down their shops to sell uniforms, textbooks or other stationary items within their premises or through selected vendors.
In an advisory, the Central Board of Secondary Education said these activities were a violation of the rules under which they were given affiliation.
Nearly 20,000 schools across the country are affiliated to the education board.
The CBSE also said it had received far too many complaints from parents and others about schools exerting pressure on children to buy textbooks that have not been prescribed by the CBSE or the government-run NCERT, or National Council of Educational Research and Training.
The CBSE reminded school managements that schools had to be run "as a community service and not as a business" under its rule-book, urging them to ensure that commercialisation did not take place in the school in any way.
"The schools are directed to desist from
the unhealthy practice of coercing parents to buy text books, notebooks, stationery, uniforms, shoes, school bags etc. from within the premise or from selected vendors only," said K Srinivasan, the board's official in-charge of affiliating schools.
This is not the first time that the board has warned schools against indulging in commercial activities but it is the harshest. The CBSE said it had received complaints that schools hadn't heeded to its previous reminders. If they still fall foul, the stress on the CBSE's by-laws implied they could lose their affiliation to the education board