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Latest News |
| 12th
March 2010 / Times of India / Mumbai Edition |
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Govt makes Eng SSC school upgrade easier
Mumbai: Here’s some good news for parents and schools
across the state. The government has just made it simpler
for the managements of primary English-medium SSC schools
to start secondary and higher secondary sections. The
government move, officials said, was prompted by the huge
demand for good English-medium education.
Earlier, private SSC schools running till Std VII would
have to go through a painfully long-drawn process if they
wanted to introduce classes VIII to X (or VIII-XII), but
a government resolution passed on Wednesday simplified
the process. “The procedure will now be the same
as that followed for CBSE schools in Maharashtra that
want to introduce a secondary section. Earlier, it was
a lengthy process for SSC schools,’’ said
Suvarna Kharat, undersecretary, state education department.
Earlier, an SSC school, which wanted an upgrade after
Std VII, would have to first issue an advertisement, then
send its proposal to the government and the proposal would
subsequently be scrutinized by a series of committees
and subcommittees.
The government rule says that to be eligible to run secondary
sections, an institute must have well-stocked libraries,
clean drinking water, separate toilets for boys and girls
and a laboratory with the necessary apparatus. Now, schools
that comply with the eligibility criteria laid down by
the government will have to submit a list of documents,
such as the lease deeds for the land of the building,
rent papers, accounts and balance sheets. If the government
clears their lists, they will first be granted provisional
admission and later, a finalized admission.
Schools granted permission to run till Std X or XII will
have to seek affiliation directly from the state board,
much the same way as those who wish to follow the national
boards, ICSE or CBSE. The state government will no longer
play mediator for schools wishing to apply to the state
board.
All such new SSC English-medium schools will be completely
private and will not be eligible for government aid. “This
way, such institutes will decrease the government’s
financial burden,’’ said Kharat.
For those wondering why the policy applies only to the
English medium, the answer lies in the fact that only
new English-medium SSC schools are permanently non-granted.
Those that follow other mediums, such as Marathi and Hindi,
are eligible for a government grant, and so their policies
will be different.
“This is a good move, given the fact that English
is gaining prominence in the international market. At
the same time, I feel it’s necessary for the government
to take care of Indian language schools for the masses.
In 2007, the state passed a GR, which allowed vernacular-medium
schools to start teaching science and math in English
for the secondary sections. This too needs to be encouraged
by the government,’’ said Fr Francis Swamy,
principal of Holy Family School, Andheri. |
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