New Delhi: Now the Modi government has trained its guns on the ICSE board and affiliated schools. Why? Apparently there are some in the new dispensation who feel that its time to destroy these ‘eitist’ board run by ‘Christian’ Managements, (Actually Anglo-Indian, but do the rights of micro-minorities matter nowadays?)

 The human resource development ministry (read Smriti Irani) has asked the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), which conducts the ICSE and the ISC examinations, to furnish evidence to justify its existence.

 The Smriti Irani-led ministry last week asked the CISCE to immediately reply to a letter sent in December last year in which the council was asked to submit documents showing the government’s approval of the memorandum of association and rules and regulations of the council.

 Last year’s letter was sent by D.K. Bhawsar, the deputy education adviser to the HRD ministry, and addressed to the executive officer and secretary of the CISCE. The ministry last week sent a reminder, asking the council to “expedite the matter and furnish the reply immediately”.

 Ministry officials have cited a court notice to justify the letter and the reminder. But the court notice is related to the removal of an official from the CISCE, other government sources said. These sources felt that the ministry was using the opportunity to split hairs and nettle the board whose examinations are taken by students of hundreds of schools, including those run by Christian managements.

As many as 1.5 lakh Class X students from over 1,900 schools in the country, including 300 in Bengal, appeared for the board’s Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) examination while over 71,000 Class XII students from more than 900 schools took the Indian School Certificate (ISC) test earlier this year.

 The ministry’s letter asked the CISCE to provide “a copy of the authorization letter of the appropriate authority to conduct public examination” even though the council has been listed in the 1973 Act.

 According to the Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE), which coordinates with all the school education boards in the country, Class X and XII certificates can be issued only by and under the seal of a board duly established by an act of Parliament or state legislature or by an executive order of the central or state government.

 COBSE general secretary Puran Chand has said the CISCE is a legally valid board and has been recognised under a central law passed by Parliament (the 1973 Act). “The act of Parliament mentions the CISCE. That is sufficient. For us, it is a recognised board,” he said.

The ministry’s reminder to the council was apparently prompted by a notice from Delhi High Court on a petition filed by Jose Aikara, who was removed as chairman of the council in November last year. Aikara was removed following charges of financial irregularities and violation of rules. The matter is pending in the high court.

 In the petition, Aikara has mentioned that the council has been recognised under Section 2(s) of the Delhi School Education Act 1973. The CISCE website also says the council has been listed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973 as a body conducting public examinations.

 The 1973 Act was passed by Parliament with the objective to improve school education in the Union territory of Delhi. Section 2(s) of the act defines a public examination as an “examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations or any other Board which may hereafter be established for the purpose, and recognised by the administrator or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf”.

 But Smriti Irani’s  officials say the 1973 Act merely mentions the CISCE for the purpose of defining a public examination.

 The officials drew a contrast between the CISCE and the CBSE (the Central Board of Secondary Education). The CBSE, they told the media, had been set up by a government order.

 Former CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi said the board, previously known as the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Rajputana, was set up through an executive order of the Union government in 1929. The order was notified in the gazette. In 1962, the board was renamed the CBSE, which was also notified in the official gazette, Joshi said.

 Ministry sources said that immediately after getting the notice from the high court, officials hunted for records on the CISCE. They could not find any document that suggested the board was set up by any executive order of the government or by any act of Parliament or Assembly, according to the sources.

 The CISCE website says that in 1952, an All India Certificate Examinations Conference was held under the chairmanship of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then minister for education. The main purpose of the conference was to consider the replacement of the overseas Cambridge School Certificate Examination by an all-India examination. This set the agenda for the establishment of the council.

 Contacted by a newspaper, Gerry Arathoon, CISCE executive officer and secretary, said in an email response that it would not be appropriate to comment since the matter is in court.

 “We wish to inform you that the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India, New Delhi, had written a letter (as referred to by you in your email) to the Council in the context of a litigation pending in the Hon’ble Delhi High Court. Since the said litigation is still pending and the matter being sub judice, it will not be appropriate on our part to respond to your queries at this stage,” Arathoon replied yesterday.

 -prepared from news reports

  ICSE board, NARENDRA MODI