The mandatory NOC (No-Objection Certificate) rule has been brought back by the CBSE for schools that are attempting to get the affiliation.
As a result of this major decision, schools will not only need to supply the NOC of their state while presenting an application for affiliation, but a certificate of recognition also.
What had Changed Before?
In 2013, the rule for NOC was revoked after Shashi Tharoor, the then HRD Minister of State, indicated that it may cause schools to be harassed by officials of state education.
The reason for the requirement of an NOC is that all schools start after being affiliated to the state board. CBSE accepts requests for affiliation once the students reach Std. 8 so that these students are allowed to attempt the Std. 10 board exams.
During this application, the state education dept. is asked for an NOC by CBSE for conversion of board in the school. As a result of Tharoor’s argument, the affiliation policy was modified by the CBSE in July 2013 and evaded the whole state education dept. system.
As the main reason behind invalidating of NOC clause, Shashi Tharoor wanted to conclude the hiccups that the older rule brought with it. There came many complaints from across India that there would be an intentional delay in provision of NOCs on the state education depts.’ end, which would eventually lead to bribery cases.
Tharoor had spoken in 2013, just before nullifying this rule, saying that he had been informed of an occurrence where officials of state education had demanded bribes for an NOC grant. He compared this system to the likes of the licence Raj era and suggested that it should also be brought to an end.
What Do the Officials Feel?
CBSE officials did not comment on the reason for revoking the NOC rule. Some of the principals reckon that the dept. of state education would have stood against the subverting of their officials in a significant suggestion such as this. One official of state education, who hadn’t witnessed the latest order of CBSE, said the move is a positive one. He said that, although he’ll need to check what exactly it talks about in detail, he feels that it is a welcoming move on face value. He said that the assumption that state officials are corrupt is absurd and that the NOC powers should be taken away. He added that CBSE will benefit by the NOC system since defaulter schools will be restricted from changing to their board.