CBSE team visits Kargil, holds maiden talks with stakeholders

A three-member team of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) visited the district and held detailed deliberations with LAHDC Kargil besides representatives of private schools and other experts, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

In March, Lt Governor R K Mathur had held a meeting with CBSE Chairman Manoj Ahuja and discussed the need for a school education board in Ladakh.

Mathur had also highlighted the need for an interim arrangement for the next two-three years, and asked Ahuja to consider sending a team to the union territory for a detailed survey and to discuss the roadmap ahead.

Earlier, an official panel for the review of school education boards in Kargil had suggested an alternative plan due to the difficulty in managing the administrative affairs of the Jammu and Kashmir State Board of School Education.

There was a provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 for continuing with the same board but the erstwhile state was bifurcated into Union territories, making it difficult to manage the board's administrative affairs, the panel had said, adding that an alternative plan should be placed for the future.

An official spokesman said Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor, LAHDC, Kargil Feroz Ahmad Khan chaired the meeting held on Friday with the CBSE team comprising joint secretaries Sanjib Das, Hilal Ahmed and Shyam Kapoor. Councillors, education experts and representatives of private schools also attended the meeting.

He said detailed deliberations were held on issues pertaining to constraints that educational institutions in the district might face in case of affiliation with the central board, administrative issues in view of the district's remote location, current as well as future academic and examination sessions, formalities regarding affiliation process, and other matters about private schools.

Khan apprised the visiting team about the major concerns of all stakeholders and stressed on the need to have a considerate view on all issues, the spokesman said.

He said the major issues underlined by the CEC Kargil included the need for a separate academic and examination session for UT Ladakh, the establishment of a CBSE sub-board office in Kargil, allocation of exam centres to ensure that no child is left behind, extended relaxation for private schools in terms of renewal of provisional affiliation, relaxed norms in respect of land and infrastructure requirements for CBSE affiliation.

The spokesman said the visiting team also put forth its views on the issues raised during the meeting, and said that the CBSE, being the most child-friendly board, would make every effort to ensure convenience of all students.

To ensure holistic development of students, the team said schools need to adhere to basic essential requirements as stipulated in the CBSE norms. However, relaxations in certain aspects may be considered keeping in view the tough terrain and remote location of schools.

The team assured that it would put forward the stakeholders' concerns to higher authorities for redressal, the spokesman said.