CBSE revises affiliation bye-laws, caps school sections based on built-up area

In an effort to tackle the issue of overcrowding in schools, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made major changes to its affiliation bye-laws, restricting the number of sections a school can make based on its built-up area.

The board has informed the CBSE affiliated schools that the revised changes in Appendix- V under Chapter 3 of the CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws-2018 are to be followed for immediate effect.

Several CBSE schools approached the board expressing concerns over acute shortage of land availability, resulting in functional difficulties to increase additional sections beyond the permissible limit even when there is a demand for new admissions.

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The board stated that the difficulty faced by the schools was due to the limit of permissible sections as per land criteria in Appendix-V of the Affiliation Bye-Laws-2018. In this regard, the rules have been amended to address overcrowding in schools and also for the overall well-being of students.

According to the revised plan by the CBSE, “The total number of sections permitted at secondary level i.e. class IX and X and at senior secondary level i.e. class XI and XII shall at each level be restricted to 1/4th of the total number of sections running in the school from Bal-Vatika to class X or XII respectively rounded off to the next higher even number with equal number of sections in Class IX & X and class XI & XII, respectively.”

“The number of sections and students shall be restricted as per the actual facilities in the school. The number of section shall be restricted in accordance with above with built-up carpet area unit scaled down to 400 sq mtrs i.e. 03 sections for every 400 sq mtrs thereafter,” it further stated.

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CBSE amends affiliation bye-laws

The CBSE board has made changes to several of its affiliation bye-laws to improve the school’s capacity to hold more students. The revised bye-laws are given as follows:

The maximum number of sections to be permitted shall be based on the total built-up carpet area of the school building. For example, a school built in 5,400 sq meters can have a maximum of 42 sections.

The built-up carpet area has to be certified by the local body or a licensed Architect. The land area shall be utilised only for the purpose of deciding the category of the schools.

The school shall be allowed an equal number of sections at secondary level.

Here is the revised bye-laws list for minimum academic infrastructure up to 48 sections for middle or secondary or senior secondary school along with the branch.