Sun, May 11 12:05 AM
The HRD Ministry's proposal to regulate international schools operating in India has hit a roadblock with the Prime Minister's Office asking the ministry to consult the Planning Commission before bringing the proposal for Cabinet consideration. The Cabinet secretariat had listed the ministry's regulatory guidelines, making it mandatory for such schools to seek government permission before seeking international affiliation, for Friday's Cabinet meeting.
The proposal was withdrawn after PMO instructions to first consult the Planning Commission. The PMO is also peeved at the ministry's failure to introduce a draft law to allow foreign universities into India in Parliament, over six months after Cabinet approved it.
Left parties' opposition to the draft law is the reason for the ministry's failure to introduce the bill. The ministry is eager to regulate international schools because their numbers have rapidly risen in the last decade from 15 in 1998 to about 180 in 2006.
The number of schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) has grown from two in 1998 to 33 in 2006. There were 148 schools affiliated to the Cambridge International Examination (CIE) in 2006.
So far, there are no government guidelines for these schools. With an increasing number of Indian children opting for these schools, the ministry wants curriculum to be in consonance with the spirit of the Indian Constitution and culture.
Therefore, the guidelines make it mandatory to get the curriculum vetted from an HRD Ministry standing committee. This committee would also decide on the foreign boards from which Indian schools can seek affiliation, the guidelines said.
The guideline gives powers to state or union territory governments to issue no-objection certificates to schools for seeking foreign affiliation from the list of the boards approved by the ministry. Finding that a large number of foreign teachers are joining these schools, the guidelines state the salaries of foreign and Indian teachers should be at par.
