After universities, now it is the turn of the schools to get star rated. Central Board of Secondary education has made it mandatory for its affiliating schools to acquire accreditation within 3 years. 

The accreditation would mean certification of a school’s functioning assessed on the basis of predetermined norms in pre-defined areas.

Nineteen years after UGC initiated accreditation process by launching NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) for evaluating the performances of universities and colleges in the country, CBSE follow the tunes now, having dictated parameters mandatory for schools to incorporate.

A recent circular sent to all affiliated schools told school heads to start applying online for accreditation. The deadline to complete the process is three years.

Schools will be evaluated on scholastic and co-scholastic processes, infrastructure, human resource management and administration, leadership and beneficiary satisfaction – further divided into 250 areas such as life skills, value systems, visual and performing arts, health and physical activities, classrooms, libraries, labs and transportation facilities among others.

The Board’s empanelled accreditation agencies will appoint Peer Assessors Team (PAT) which in due course will prepare the School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Report (SQAAR) after interaction, field visit and physical verification of the concerned institution and its team. The accreditation would be required to be renewed every three years. Heads of various schools here view it as a welcome initiate.

‘The accreditation is actually intended to serve the purpose of a handy index for the stakeholders since it would give an immediate insight about the state of affairs in a school’ Geeta Nair, Principal of Rockwoods High School opined.

It will ensure that the school has met prescribed standards that have been pre-set/approved by the CBSE. This will enhance the perception of the school by all stakeholders and the public at large, she asserted.

Heads of other schools too held the gains from accreditation to be manifold. Through the process of accreditation a school will be accountable to deliver what it has committed through its stated vision and mission statement, he added. The teachers too believe the accreditation process will curb schools tendency to violate salary and training norms for the teachers.

‘Now that the board is taking teachers’ satisfaction into account, schools will no longer be able to bend rules’  Deepti Sharma, a senior teacher said. Once accredited, the school’s name and its best performing domains will be listed on the CBSE website. This, would also help parents make decisions with regard to schools, said Ali Kausar a  parent.

By Geetha Sunil Pillai