New Delhi: You must have heard about Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE but have you also heard about Indian Council of Secondary Education, ICSE? What about All India Council for Open Education? Or Central Board of Higher Education (CBHE)? Or Board of Higher Secondary Education? Or Indira Gandhi Higher Secondary and Open Education?
These very academic- and authoritative-sounding “boards of education” are among more than 100 “unrecognized” school boards that authorities are struggling to crack down to protect gullible students.
A list of 116 “unrecognized” boards – many of which have the same names as their real counterparts – has now been put up on the website of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), which has said it will not admit those students. who has received his schooling under one of them.
Most of the 116 boards are located in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the central government is working on developing an SOP to give parity to various boards, which in turn will help institutions to identify genuine boards from fake ones. The task of ascertaining the ‘authenticity’ of the boards has been done handed over For Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
ThePrint conducted an independent investigation to find out what these unaccredited boards are and how they work.
A detailed email was sent to Education Secretary Anita Karwal seeking feedback on what the government has done so far to crack down on these bogus boards. This article will be updated once a response is received.
one in 2013 Public NoticeThe then Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) – now the Ministry of Education – clarified that education boards are “established by Central/State/Union Territory Governments”.
The notice states that this is done either by an act of Parliament or a state legislature or an executive order of the central or state government.
It further specified that “there are two national level school boards. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development. The notice further directed the parents to ” Advised to “claim letter of recognition issued by any Board” with the Ministry of Human Resource Development to verify the authenticity.
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Fake boards prevalent in ‘small towns and villages’
How do you tell a real school board from a fake board? According to an education official familiar with the task of developing SOPs, the task is more difficult than it sounds.
The education ministry had last year asked AIU to devise a mechanism by which scores of different boards can be treated at par for college admissions and jobs.
During the process, AIU will come out with a list of boards that have been awarded equivalence, which in turn can help higher education institutions identify the right boards.
Whatever is not mentioned in the list should not be treated as genuine.
“Anything we provide other than a list of boards should be treated as unrecognized,” the official ThePrint said.
However, as of now, there is no way to know which board is fake and which is genuine, until the education ministry issues a notification or a public notice, the official said.
Still, a cheap board is asking for money in lieu of a school certificate.
“The boards you see in small towns and villages promising 10th class certificate for Rs 10,000 or more… These are the same boards that are behind it. They are usually not attached to schools but run as independent school boards for people looking for open school alternatives,” the official said.
AIU is expected to issue its SOP by next month. As of now, there is no information on whether the government is planning to decide any action against the unrecognized boards.
Lakshya are dropouts, who have failed in class 10 or 12
To understand the modus operandi of such boards, ThePrint contacted some employees, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.
Some suggested that he did not openly make false claims.
“We never claim to be associated with any school. We are listed as an independent organization and we also provide our certificate stating that. We conduct the exam like any other open board, register the candidates with us and provide them a certificate on successfully passing the exam,” said an employee of an unrecognized board.
Another employee said that the board catered to the needs of school dropouts who needed a matriculation certificate to get a job.
“Most of the people who come to us need class 10 certificate for the job. They are people who dropped out of school early in their life and now have no chance of getting admission,” explained the employee.
ThePrint looked at the “official websites” and social media pages of several boards that have been declared “unrecognized” by the education ministry. Most omitted any mention of their affiliation but promised matriculation or school leaving certificates.
For example, the All India Council for Open Education, in its facebook page, Promises a guaranteed pass result for class 10 and 12 students who have failed earlier.
This board also claims to be an education franchise that provides counseling and admissions services, and lists a number of different agents in its Facebook posts.
When ThePrint called one of the numbers listed, the person on the other end said the organization was based out of West Bengal. Sudipto Kumar, whose number was listed, claimed to be only an employee and advised that an e-mail should be sent to the board. ThePrint did so, but did not receive a response till the time of publication of this report.
Misleading claims of recognition and ‘validity’
Most of the 116 boards listed by IGNOU are located in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
central board of higher education, an unrecognized West Delhi based board, claims to be affiliated “from time to time” with several universities. The mission statement of the website reads, “To spread modern education and revive ancient culture through classical languages like Sanskrit.”
However, the various documents uploaded on the website paint a confusing picture. For example, a court order under the tab labeled “Validity and Validity”, pertains to a case involving a travel company. The certificate of accreditation on the site is barely legible. The phone number listed on the website does not exist.
Indira Gandhi Higher Secondary and Open Education (IGHSOE) claims To be registered by the Ministry of Education. A statement on its website read: “It is hereby informed that all matters relating to approval and recognition regarding the examination conducted by IGHSOE shall be approved by the Government of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi. and the matter is also pending in Allahabad High Court. court.”
Emails sent to the Board remained unanswered.
Calls to the numbers listed for the Delhi-based Board of Higher Secondary Education also went unanswered.
However, the website is filled with certificates and official looking documents including a link For 2012 RTI Which claims that “Ministry of Human Resource Development does not regulate the establishment of Boards of Education. Union of India does not constitute any statutory body to establish Boards/Councils of Education in India.”
Board In its site it also says: “We have never claimed or declared that our board is recognized by MHRD, Govt. Board of India governed by the UP Education Act, 1921”. ThePrint reports this board on its position Sent an email asking and a reply is awaited.
(Edited by Asawari Singh)
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