Maharashtra open schooling board admission: 66 students register in less than a month

On January 10, the education department launched a website msbos.mh-ssc.ac.in where parents can register their children to become a part of the board. The board would conduct its exams for Class 5,8,10 and 12 once operational.

Sixty-six students have been enrolled so far in the Maharashtra State Open Schooling Board after it was launched on January 10 by the state education department.

The department has set up 543 help centres across the state, of which 97 are from the city where parents can submit their original documents, pay fees and collect study material.(HT File)

“We are getting a good response with parents registering their students with the board every day. We are expecting the numbers to go up in the next few days,” said Shakuntala Kale, chairperson, Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE).

On January 10, the education department launched a website msbos.mh-ssc.ac.in where parents can register their children to become a part of the board. The board would conduct its exams for Class 5,8,10 and 12 once operational. First examination for the students would be conducted in June 2019. While the deadline for student registrations was earlier set until January 31, the board might extend it if there is more demand. “We have still not decided on the extension but if there are requests from parents, we will consider the same,” added Kale.

Several parents from the city who are currently home-schooling their children have enrolled to become a part of the board. “My daughter is very good at art and we thus decided to home-school her to pursue her hobby better. We were however exploring options of open schooling so that she gets her class 10 certificate to apply for universities abroad and have now registered with the state’s open board,” said Shaila Naik, a city based parent.

The department has set up 543 help centres across the state, of which 97 are from the city where parents can submit their original documents, pay fees and collect study material.

Jayant Jain, president, Forum for Fairness in Education said that while many parents want to become a part of the model, most of them have still not registered due to some doubts. “The website only has factual details about the process but lacks information about operational details – like number of hours that students need to attend centres, nature of study material etc. More parents would apply if there is clarity on these aspects,” said Jain.

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