Dont give in to pressure: CBSE to schools

In a further indictment of the Sacred Heart School,the CBSE on Friday issued an advisory to all its 10,000-plus affiliated schools....

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In a further indictment of the Sacred Heart School,the CBSE on Friday issued an advisory to all its 10,000-plus affiliated schools asking them to treat children as sensitive individuals who need to be protected at any cost and to stand up to any external pressure.

The CBSEs new year advisory seeks to remind that schools are ideological institutions and not factories and that no school,under the guise of enforcing discipline,should mistreat any student or parent thereof. The Sacred Heart School in Chandigarh had expelled Ruchika Girhotra for defaulting on fees.

As reported first by The Indian Express,the school board has sought to remind all schools on the harsh action taken against Ruchika and emphasised the key duty of a school towards its students. CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi confirmed that the advisory had been issued to all affiliated schools with a special focus on child rights issues.

The schools need to be aware of the sensitive and impressionable nature of minds of schoolchildren and must ensure that all students,irrespective of their differences in physical,social,economic status or by their being differently abled are dealt with in a dignified manner. Adolescents are vulnerable to many influences and must be empowered to take informed decisions. No school under the guise of enforcing discipline should mistreat any student or parent thereof. This must be strictly observed and enforced notwithstanding any external pressure whatsoever, the CBSE has said in its advisory.

Closely watching the Ruchika case,the CBSE is learnt to have examined all its records related to the school concerned and is worried about the disproportionate action taken against Ruchika by the school.

Standing up for the children again on the issue of Continuous and Comprehensive Education CCE to which all CBSE schools have switched starting October,the CBSE has said that it has learnt that some schools are holding formative assessments/ tasks everyday and putting undue pressure on students saying they would be minutely observed and assessed. The CBSE has cautioned schools that this may again lead to stress and an unnatural and artificial depiction of behaviour.

The board has also informed that all Class IX summative or end-of-the-year final exams under CBSE schools will be in multiple choice question format this year on.