Managements oppose norms for NOC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The guidelines issued by the General Education Department for obtaining No Objection Certificate (NOC) for getting CBSE/ICSE affiliation for schools will run into rough weather with the school managements opposing the norms.It is alleged that some of the norms are impractical, which cannot be implemented. It stipulates that the Education Department will have all rights to take action against the schools which violate these conditions.A team from the CBSE/ICSE schools met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Education Minister Abdu Rabb in Thiruvananthapuram to address their grievances. They submitted a memorandum citing the anomalies in the conditions put forward by the government. Kerala CBSE School Management Association general secretary Indira Rajan said that the norms had to be revised for the smooth functioning of the schools. She said that the schools were functioning according to the norms prescribed by the CBSE Board. Now the government order stipulates that an institution should have minimum three acres of land, out of which at least two acres shall be in the actual location where the school is functioning in a contiguous manner. How a school can purchase more land in cities for more space and even if some land is purchased far away, it can be utilised by the students situated in the actual location, she said. The decision to collect nominal fee from students will result in most of the institutions being forced to shutdown as there will be no other financial assistance. There is no clarity on the remuneration of the teachers, which if hiked on par with that of government teachers, will finally result in putting an additional burden on parents. It is not practical to allow the District Education Officer to enter private institutions for minor issues and reject the NOC.