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ICSE council head suspended for malpractice
Gerry Arathoon, the chief executive officer and secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination, has been suspended by the council on charges of malpractice.
Gerry Arathoon, the chief executive officer (CEO) and secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), has been suspended by the council on charges of malpractice.
CISCE conducts the ICSE and ISC exams.
There are allegations that Arathoon's wife has written an English work book, which despite never being placed in the executive body of the council for approval received CISCE's nod.
Immediately after the incident came to light, Arathoon was show-caused. Father José Içara, chairperson of CISC, was not satisfied with the reply.
He has now been suspended and the council has given him 15-days to reply. "There is no time limit for the suspension. Immediately after the council receives the reply, the executive committee will take it up to decide on the future course of action," said Nobarun De, member of the executive council of CISCE.
Despite several attempts Arathoon could not be reached. A teacher of Frank Anthony Public School and a trusted associate of former chairman of CISCE Neil O'Brien, Arathoon became an integral part of the CISCE Kolkata office in the last decade.
He moved to CISCE office in Delhi four years back and soon became the chief executive and secretary of the council.
"This is a violation of a very serious nature. If this is what the head of the council is up to, then how will it stop the principals from pushing unnecessary reference books to the students by falling the trap of publishers who are willing to shower them with freebies and foreign trips for the favour?" asked a principal of a prominent school in Kolkata.
After becoming the CEO and secretary of the council, Arathoon had introduced several student-friendly measures including upgrading of syllabus and overhauling of the ISC and ICSE evaluation system by making it online this year.
There are 1,841 ICSE schools in the country. Of them, 311 are in Bengal.
