State schools mull over board switch

Mumbai: Citing lack of funds as the reason, schools that are aided by the state government are exploring the possibility of moving from the state board to boards like Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and International Baccalaureate (IB). They said that since they are aided, they couldn’t increase the fees. Also, they have to stick the state board curriculum. In such a scenario, they are finding it difficult to manage the expenses of running their schools. The act of switching over to another board is important, as it will open up the opportunity of increasing the fees.

 “Since we are struggling to pay our teachers and maintain the school, we are planning to adopt other boards so that we will have to no longer depend on government funds,” said the principal of a Bandra-based school.

Schools reveal that they fall short of paying electricity and water bills, along with the salaries of the non-teaching staff, as they don’t have enough money for it. “The only we have right now is the donations we get from our alumnus. We have been managing like this for some time now, but we cannot go further like this,” said the principal of a south Mumbai school.

“The state government should realise the impact of switching over to a private or international board as the fees will have to be increased, which will put the students in trouble,” said the principal of a school in Colaba.