Delhi school board gets nod from apex certification council to affiliate schools, conduct exams, grant certificates

In March, the Delhi government had announced that it would have its own state board, and move away from the pattern of one-time year-end exams and opt for continuous assessment to do away with rote learning

New Delhi: The Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) has secured an approval from the apex body for school board certification, paving the way for the newly-formed state board to affiliate schools, conduct examinations and grant certificates that are equivalent to other recognised boards in India, the Delhi government said on Friday.

Delhi school board gets nod from apex certification council to affiliate schools, conduct exams, grant certificates

According to government officials, the approval was issued on August 6 and received by the education department on Friday.

According to a press release from deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s office, a letter issued by Council Of Boards of School Education (COBSE) in India stated, “...On the grant of COBSE membership to Delhi Board of School Education, secondary and higher secondary examinations conducted and certificates issued by it would have equivalence to the corresponding certificates of other member-boards of COBSE...”

COBSE, an autonomous body, primarily verifies the genuineness of school education boards in India and facilitates its recognition.

The governing council of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), an inter-university organisation which acts as a representative of universities in India, also approved the new state board proposal and resolved to “give equivalence to Delhi Board of School Education with CBSE and other recognised boards of India”, the government said.

“With this, DBSE is all set to affiliate schools, conduct examinations and grant certificates which shall be treated as equivalent to the corresponding certificates issued by other recognised boards in India. This will enable the students from DBSE affiliated schools to take admission in other boards and its certificate will be valid for admission in higher educational institutions,” the statement added.

The development comes shortly after the DBSE signed an agreement of collaboration with the International Baccalaureate, which has agreed to be a knowledge partner and provide curriculum framework for the content to be taught at DBSE schools.

“Collaboration with International Baccalaureate opens world-class opportunities for our children. With COBSE and AIU approvals, the DBSE is all set to transform learning assessment,” said Sisodia.

In March, the Delhi government had announced that it would have its own state board, and move away from the pattern of one-time year-end exams and opt for continuous assessment to do away with rote learning.

In the first phase, 30 government schools will be affiliated to DBSE out of which 10 are Sarvodaya schools for classes nursery to 8, and the remaining are Schools of Specialised Excellence for classes 9 to 12, focusing on domain-specific education of students. Admissions to the 20 SoSEs began on Thursday and so far the education department has received over 7,500 applications.

“In next few years, all the government schools of Delhi will be affiliated to the DBSE which has started functioning in partnership with International Baccalaureate (IB). Besides, the recognised private schools in the city too will have the option of affiliating themselves with the DBSE,” said the statement issued on Friday.