“The onus of settling the issue through corrective measures lies partly on J&K BOSE and partly on J&K School Education Department”.
Private Schools always in news for violations and wrongs reasons are this time at the centre of a heated controversy over uniformity in the text books prescribed for students by the Jammu & Kashmir Board Of School Education (J&K BOSE). While the J&K BOSE has made it mandatory for private schools to introduce text books taught in Government schools, the private schools are unfortunately asking students to buy additional books from private publishers which are not part of the curriculum prescribed by J&K BOSE uniformly for both private and Government schools. With private schools asking students to buy additional books which are not part of course curriculum from private publishers, the people for all reasons see an ulterior motive of “illegal profiteering” in this new initiative of private schools taken by them without the consent and approval of the J&K BOSE. As private schools face allegations of developing a nexus with private publishers in furtherance of the causes of illegal profiteering, the onus of settling the issue through corrective measures lies partly on J&K BOSE and partly on J&K School Education Department. While the people allege that private schools are hand-in-glove with private publishers and earn around 40 to 45% commission of the actual price tag fixed on the textbooks of private publishers, the private schools claim that the books prescribed by J&K BOSE are far below the standards of CBSE curriculum. Since the controversy now surrounds over the standard of text books prescribed by J&K BOSE, the onus of maintaining the standards of the text books for maintaining uniformity in curriculum as stressed under National Educational Policy-2020 lies equally on J&K BOSE and J&K School Education Department.
“While the onus of raising the standards of text books for the purposes of uniformity in the curriculum set under National Education Policy-2020 lies on J& BOSE, the Private Schools also are not at all at liberty to prescribe text books available with private publishers despite not being the part of curriculum set by J&K BOSE from lower primary classes to Class 12th.”
The row does not end only over the allegations of compromise in the standard of text books against J&K BOSE but extends for and wide beyond the standards of BOSE prescribed text books as book sellers allege that despite having received fresh supply of textbooks from BOSE the private schools are still prescribing textbooks available with the private publishers. While the onus of raising the standards of text books for the purposes of uniformity in the curriculum set under National Education Policy-2020 lies on J& BOSE, the Private Schools also are not at all at liberty to prescribe text books available with private publishers despite not being the part of curriculum set by J&K BOSE from lower primary classes to Class 12th. While the J&K BOSE has all the powers and authority to prescribe courses of instruction, curricula, syllabi, and textbooks for various academic levels, including pre-primary, elementary, secondary, and higher secondary school examinations, the private schools have no power and authority what so ever to prescribe books available with private publishes without the consent and approval of J&K BOSE. Private Schools have not also any legal mandate to prescribe books not prescribed by J&K BOSE as the Jammu & Kashmir High Court in a judgment in September last year has said that policy decisions and guidelines issued by J&K BOSE with regard to the matters relating to curriculum, syllabus and prescription of text books for the schools affiliated to the Board cannot be interfered with by the Courts. The High Court has in it’s judgment also said that if schools are at liberty to choose books, it would not only create chaos and confusion but there won’t be uniformity in the education system in Jammu & Kashmir.
