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ACF, an umbrella body representing Christian communities and minority educational rights across the state, expressed deep concern on November 25 over the state cabinet’s decision to table the Assam Private Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Amendment Bill, 2025, in the ongoing winter session of the assembly.

The Forum said the bill threatens to dismantle long-standing protections enjoyed by minority-run schools and is a significant shift from the earlier hands-off approach adopted by the government.

ACF Chairman Archbishop John Moolachira said the proposed amendment gives the state "sweeping powers" to regulate fee structures, monitor collections, and intervene in the internal functioning of such schools at any time.

Terming the move a "direct attack" on the autonomy of the Christian missionary institutions, the Archbishop said these centres of learning have served as "pillars of education in Assam for over a century". According to him, the bill undermines their ability to maintain operations aligned with their values and a sustained service-oriented model. "We are pained and feel intimidated. These schools are not businesses but nation builders, preserving identity, language, and culture through education," he said.

The ACF warned that if it were to be denied the right to determine reasonable fees, minority-run institutions would not be able to pay their teachers and maintain infrastructure, and continue providing scholarships to thousands of poor students from tribal and remote areas. 

The ACF further appealed for amendments that could protect the rights of the minority, asking the government to reconsider the bill. “Include our voices in whatever oversight mechanism and protect our autonomy,” the Archbishop said. The ACF was formed in 1995 as a non-profit coalition of Christian leaders, educators and community groups pursuing common goals of justice, education, and interfaith dialogue in Assam.

CBSE selects trained and qualified teachers for checking the answer sheets of board exams. The multi-layer checking system ensures equity and transparency in marking.

Every Board examination season, students anxiously speculate about who will be evaluating their answer sheets. Are the examiners strict? Are they fair? Do they understand what students write?

Here it is-the fact, based solely on the rulebook of CBSE.

YOUR PAPERS ARE CHECKED BY CBSE-APPOINTED TEACHERS

According to the CBSE Confidential Works Byelaws, the Board appoints:

Examiners - those individuals who grade the answer sheets.

Head Examiners - these are personnel who review the work of an examiner.

Chief / Deputy Chief Examiners - supervise the entire evaluation

Approvers/ Scrutinizers - they recheck totals, missed answers, and errors.

CBSE makes the final decision - selection is only as per CBSE Regulations.

The teachers appointed should be qualified: According to the Assessment & Evaluation Handbook, only teachers who conform to the academic and professional requirements stipulated by CBSE can be appointed.

Training is compulsory: Before checking papers, teachers undergo CBSE training on:

• Using the marking scheme
• Awarding partial marks
• Avoiding strict/lenient marking

This is explicitly stated in the Assessment & Evaluation Handbook.

HOW YOUR ANSWER SHEET IS ACTUALLY CHECKED

CBSE's evaluation process has well-defined steps:

Step 1: Examiners mark your paper

They follow:

• A detailed marking scheme
• Sample answers
• Instructions in marking clearly.

Nobody marks according to "their mood" or "their own rules."

Step 2: Head Examiner checks the checker

• The Head Examiner cross-verifies answer sheets marked by every examiner to ensure:
• No unfair strictness
• No arbitrary leniency
• Correct use of the marking scheme

Step 3: Scrutiny (Recheck by Scrutinizers)

• Scrutinizers ensure that:
• All questions are peer-reviewed
• Totalling is correct
• Marks are transferred accurately

This scrutiny happens before your result is declared.

The Byelaws make this clear:

Which teacher checks which paper?

The teachers are selected from the place where the evaluation centres are located.

How many marks do you get before scrutiny?

Internal examiner performance reports This secrecy exists to prevent: Outside influence Pressure on teachers Leaks Partiality 

IS THE PROCESS FAIR? 

It was devised to be thorough and fair per CBSE's own rulebooks. Each answer sheet is checked under supervision, and multiple layers of evaluation are built into the system. The examiners are required to follow uniform marking schemes. The Head Examiners cross-check the work of examiners to maintain consistency. Scrutiny teams correct mistakes thereafter. All put together, the steps ensure that the system is kept structured, is transparent within CBSE, and is fair to the students. 

STUDENT KEY TAKEAWAY 

Your answer sheet is not judged by just one person. It passes through: Examiner - Head Examiner - Scrutinizer - CBSE A multi-check system that exists entirely to ensure you get the marks you deserve.

In three states, four young students died within weeks of one other. Different cities, different classrooms-but the same haunting theme runs through their last words: they felt alone, unheard, and unprotected.

In Jaipur, a Class 4 student spent 18 months begging for help. She approached her teacher five times on the morning of November 1, pleading to be rescued from relentless bullying. According to a CBSE probe, she was repeatedly told to "adjust." Minutes later, the nine-year-old jumped from her school building. Her mother had earlier recorded the child sobbing, begging, "Mumma, I don't want to go to school. Everyone troubles me." No action was taken.

In Delhi, a Class 10 student, aged 16, walked in front of a metro train. His suicide note apologised to his family and asked for his organs to be donated. He wrote about being “mentally harassed for years” by teachers who allegedly mocked him, even when he fell during a drama class. His father recalls the last incident: “He slipped, and instead of helping him, the teacher pushed him and accused him of acting.” The family was already planning to shift him after exams.

In Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, a Class 11 girl aged 17 left behind a five-page note detailing months of physical humiliation. She wrote how her teacher pressed a pen between her fingers as punishment, held her wrists tightly and taunted her to open his closed fist. Her family says she was deeply loved at home and had no personal troubles—“Someone at school was torturing her,” they said.

In Rajasthan's Karauli district, a 14-year-old boy was found hanging from a tree near his home after he was allegedly beaten and harassed by two teachers and a school administrator. In his note, he pleaded with his parents to ensure they were punished.

These deaths are triggering anger, grief, and urgent questions across India. Parents and experts warn that bullying in schools is no longer an isolated behavioural issue but an escalating public safety and mental-health crisis.

Probes are underway across three states. Child-rights activists are demanding strict anti-bullying protocols, trained counsellors in every school, and transparent reporting systems-before more children feel their only escape is death.

Four teachers of a Delhi school have been suspended following the death by suicide of a Class 10 student at a metro station in the capital allegedly due to mental harassment.

Now, the family has alleged that the boy was being scolded and troubled by his teachers for one year; further, the boy was depressed long and had informed the counsellors and teachers that he was going to commit suicide.

A copy of the letter addressed to the teachers stated, “This is to inform you that the school has been made aware of an FIR registered against you, bearing No. 336A Tis Hazari Court, dated 19th November 2025. The matter is presently under investigation by the appropriate authorities.” Hindustan Times has accessed copies of the four letters.

According to police, the 16-year-old boy leaped from the Rajendra Place Metro Station platform on Tuesday at 2:34 p.m. After being brought to BLK Super Speciality Hospital, he was pronounced dead. "The competent authority has decided to suspend you immediately due to the seriousness of the allegations. You will continue to be suspended until the investigation is finished and you receive additional directives from the appropriate authority," it continued.

On Thursday, the student's parents and friends staged a demonstration outside the Ashok Palace school, calling for accountability from the school administration and harsh punishment for the accused teachers.

Family alleged ill-treatment at school

The father of the Class 10 student has blamed his teachers and school principal for pushing him to take the extreme step.

In his complaint, the father has alleged that his son was being “troubled over petty issues”. According to a senior police officer, the student left behind a suicide note in which he has named a few teachers blaming them for his mental distress, demanding strict action against them. "For the last one year, my son was being scolded and troubled by his teachers over petty issues. He told us about it and we raised our concerns with his teachers but nothing happened. Even his friends were troubled by those teachers," the boy's father told HT earlier. The father further alleged that on Tuesday his son had fainted at school, which his teacher ignored, saying that he was faking it. And when the boy insisted that he had fainted and began crying, the teacher allegedly said that was fake too.

The Basic Education Minister of Uttar Pradesh has called for strict action to ensure quality education, safe schooling, and equal treatment of students and teachers alike. He asked for more stringent monitoring, more facilities for girls, and accrual of timely benefits to parents.

Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh has called upon the officials to place quality education, proper facilities, and a safe learning environment at the center of all planning.

Addressing a review meeting at Yojana Bhawan, he said any obstacle in the learning or development of the students would not be tolerated and called for dedicated effort by every staff member.

Comfort can quietly become an obstacle to progress, the Minister said while cautioning them that there is “no substitute for hard work.” He called upon the officers to accord fair treatment to teachers and bring in equality in all schools.

FOCUS ON TIMELY BENEFITS AND SCHOOL MONITORING

He instructed officers of the Basic Education Department to ensure that Rs 1,200 is credited into the account of every parent via DBT for the uniforms of the students. Singh further called for close monitoring across schools, saying routine inspections should not be ignored. He laid special emphasis on strengthening Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and asked the officials to ensure that girls do not face any kind of difficulty. He added that women officers must communicate separately with the female students to understand their needs and also assure safety. 

GIRLS' EDUCATION AND STAFF RESPONSIBILITY

Singh said the vacant posts in these schools should be filled on priority so that teaching and support services are not disrupted. He underlined the point that no obstacle should come in the way of a girl's education or well-being. The minister also spoke on the issue of teachers' discipline and requested the authorities not to issue show-cause notices for minor delays of 15 to 20 minutes. He said the officials should first hear the explanation of the teacher and take action only if the delay is proved unreasonable. 

BALANCING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TEACHER MORALE

Singh stressed that accountability must not be at the cost of morale of the teachers. He said as long as the teachers were not made to feel discouraged, there would always remain a guarantee of progress on the part of students. All administrative decisions, he added, must be based upon fair play, transparency, and sensitivity. This review meeting culminated in renewed calls for teamwork, dedication, and continued monitoring to ensure that students throughout the state get the education and support which they so rightly deserve.

In a key move, Delhi University has decided to promote all postgraduate students of the 2024–25 batch into their second year. The university is set to roll out a new PG Curriculum Framework–2025 with the aim of making the transition smooth, thereby not causing academic disruption to roughly 11,000 learners.

Delhi University has decided to promote all postgraduate students enrolled in the session 2024–25 into the second year, notwithstanding whether they appeared for or cleared their first-year examinations.

This decision has been taken to ensure a smooth academic transition and as a preparatory step for implementation of the Post Graduate Curriculum Framework–2025 at the university.

The structure suggested is designed on the basis of the National Education Policy and is likely to replace the existing Choice-Based Credit System and Learning Outcome-based Curriculum Framework.

This incompatibility, according to university officials, was due to a structural mismatch between the new model and the two existing frameworks.

The officials said the retention of students in older systems would lead to an academic disruption besides delaying the implementation of a new curriculum.

"Keeping students under the previous frameworks would have created gaps in course continuity. The decision ensures that no student's academic journey is disrupted," said a senior university official involved in the transition process.

The move will affect around 11,000 students enrolled in over 80 postgraduate programs at the university.

Thus, all eligible students will now be promoted to Semester III as regular learners, thereby allowing the institution to complete the shift to PGCF-2025 without overlap between the old and new structures.

Officials said it only applies to the 2024-25 batch and will not set any kind of precedence for subsequent years.

They termed this an administrative necessity in these times of curriculum reform.

PGCF-2025 aims to align postgraduate learning to the aspirations of NEP through its multidisciplinary courses, flexible learning paths, and skill-based evaluation. The curriculum also focuses on research exposure, cross-departmental electives, and a shift away from rote learning to application-based understanding. The decision to promote has come as a respite for the thousands of students while a section of the faculty expressed apprehensions over its long-term implications. They believe the move to automatic promotion would weaken the assessment process and affect academic rigour. However, university officials argue that such a decision was reached after much deliberation and that academic standards would be maintained by follow-up assessments under the new curriculum. Delhi University said the promotion process would be completed before the beginning of the next academic session and detailed guidelines in this regard would be shared soon with all departments.