Maharashtra has passed ordinances this month reserving 50 percent for SC/STs and OBCs in their private unaided educational institutes as well, while Uttar Pradesh is likely to pass the bill. — Jaya Menon

Starting School

Nearly every state in the country has similar procedural rules for this. Under the Constitution, no educational institution can be started for a ‘profit’ motive. So it is extremely difficult for an individual to start a school.

In Delhi, for instance, according to the Delhi Education Act, only a society or a trust/ association can open a school. Indiviaduals are barred to stress the the ‘non- profit motive’ of the school. Then the school needs to get an ‘Essentiality Certificate’ from the Directorate of Education, following which land is sold to the school.

Next, the school needs to apply for recognition from concerened authorities — the Municipal Corporation for schools upto standard V and the Directorate of Education for schools upto standard XII. These are accompanied by secondary licenses like Water testing report, health certificate, completion certificates, sanctioned building plan etc. Then follows affiliation to a Board of education, which prescribes examination pattern.

In all, one needs to clear about 12 licenses to start an educational institution. One of these used to be an essentiality certificate that had a cap on the number of schools in the district. But now, the cap has been removed in Delhi, which means an essentiality certificate is granted if the other criteria are fulfilled.

The Central Board of Secondary Education — the largest Board in the world with 8000 plus schools in India and abroad — sends its expert committees to assess a schools infrastucture and teaching staff when a school asks for affiliation.

The numbers of affilaited schools though are growing. ‘‘Our purpose is to have a uniform curriculum that every school follows. We have now made the application process for affiliation online. Each year, we get about 200 applications for affiliation,’’ says an official.

Flagship Schemes

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: An effort to universalise elementary education by community-ownership of the school system, and it aims at all children in the country completing eight years of elementary schooling by 2010. The scheme enviasages an important role of the state with decentralisation of powers to Village Education Committees/ Panchayats/ Urban local bodies. Under SSA, free textbooks given to all SC/ST boys upto class VIII, and all girls.

In this respect, through an act in 2004, an education cess at 2% on direct and indirect taxes was imposed, to provide ‘universalised, quality basic education.’

Mid-day meal scheme: Launched in 1996, it creates a captive consumer in the primary school child by giving one hot cooked meal to each student in school each day, intending “to give a boost to universalisation of primary education, by increasing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously impacting on nutrition of students in primary classes”.

The government has tied up with the Food Council of India godowns to be able to provide 100 gms of wheat/rice per child. The results of this scheme are encouraging. Reports indicate that there is a direct relationship between the MDM and student retention.