CBSE Modifies Affiliation Rules: Sections To Be Allowed On School's Built-Up Area

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has modified its affiliation bye-laws to make it mandatory that the total number of sections in a school will be allowed based on the overall built-up carpet area of the school building, officials said.

The board has further decided that schools will be permitted an equal number of sections in the secondary level and in the senior secondary level.

"The board has also been getting complaints from the schools and stakeholders that there are places where there is a severe lack of land availability, because of which sometimes the schools encounter functional hardships in adding additional sections beyond the allowed limit, even when new admissions are in demand.".

"The schools also struggle to achieve the section student ratio of 1:40 under pressure for fresh admissions, but cannot open more sections because of the ceiling of admissible sections under land criteria," CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta added.

Gupta added that the board has now gone ahead and determined the maximum number of sections in a school to be allowed based on the school building's total built-up carpet area.

"The floor area of the school building calculated by adding up carpet area has to be verified by a licensed architect or the local body, as the case be. The area of land shall be used only for determining the category of the schools--Branch School, Middle Level School, Secondary Level and Senior Secondary Level under affiliation bye-laws," he said.

"The school will be permitted an equal number of sections at senior secondary level and at secondary level. The overall number of sections available at secondary level--class 9 and 10 and at senior secondary level--class 11 and 12, will be limited at every level to one-fourth of the overall number of sections being operated in the school from Balvatika to class 10 and 12," he added.