MIEB yet to start application process for next academic year

The Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) — the state-run international school board — which began operations this year, has still not opened the application

The Maharashtra International Education Board (MIEB) — the state-run international school board — which began operations this year, has still not opened the application process for 2020-21.

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MIEB operations took off this year with 68 schools. However, some of these schools opted out of the board owing to various reasons. For instance, in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Tilak Nagar Bal Vidya Mandir in Dombivli opted out stating it did not find the idea feasible, while Sion-based DS High School did not join the board, citing technical reasons.

For the 2019-20 academic year, the education department had started accepting applications for MIEB from December 2018. Schools selected for the board were announced in phases by February-March 2019.

The board, which will be in its second year in 2020-21, has still not made an official announcement about its future course of action. “The process has still not begun. We will have an internal meeting in the coming week and then announce more details,” said a board official.

Schools, which had earlier shown interest in becoming a part of the board, said that there is still a lot of uncertainty over its future. “MIEB doesn’t have a website and the syllabus is not available in the public domain. We don’t even know who the key officials are. It would be a big risk to take accreditation from a board which is yet to establish itself,” said an official from one of the schools which had earlier decided to seek MIEB affiliation.

Insiders said that with the delay in government formation, the decision over the application process is likely to be delayed as the education minister is the board’s chairperson.