CBSE objects common education board, says states have freedom to adopt or adapt NCERT books

NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has opposed the plea filed in Delhi High Court for seeking the implementation of ‘One Nation, One Education Board’. The CBSE Board said that implementing a uniform board and curriculum “does not take into account the local context, culture and language”, as per the Live Law report.

Stating that ‘education’ was a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the CBSE said, “There is a national framework with flexibility for the emphasis of local resources, culture and ethos. A child can better relate to a curriculum that is more closely related to his/her life outside the school,” as per reports.

The affidavit was filed by the board in response to the petition submitted by Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

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As per The Tribune report, Upadhyay said, “The bitter truth is that school mafias don’t want ‘One Nation, One Education Board’, coaching mafias don’t want ‘One Nation, One Syllabus’ and book mafias don’t want NCERT books in all schools. That’s why the uniform education system up to 12th standard has not been implemented yet.”

In response, the CBSE said a majority of the schools are under the state government, which frames or develops syllabus and curriculum. It further explained that the National Curriculum Framework developed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in line with the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) states frames the guidelines to develop syllabi, curriculum and study materials.

The board explained that the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) or state education board have the freedom to either adopt or adapt the model curriculum set by the NCERT.

The CBSE Board in July had asked all schools to use Indian languages as mediums of instruction from pre-primary classes to Class 12 in an effort “to make multilingual education in CBSE schools a reality”.