CBSE's Coercive Strategy for Pariksha Pe Charcha Registration Sparks Controversy
Threats of Affiliation Discontinuation Raise Concerns Among Schools
In order to guarantee the "maximum possible" registration of students, parents, and instructors for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most recent Pariksha Pe Charcha programme, the Central Board of Secondary Education subtly threatened to sever its connection with a number of its institutions.
According to official data, the number of registrations for the Pariksha Pe Charcha, which is scheduled for January 29, a few weeks prior to the general election, has increased dramatically from 38 lakh to 2.26 crore.
During the first week of January, the principals of multiple schools in Odisha received emails from the CBSE's regional headquarters in Bhubaneswar, expressing their dissatisfaction with what they saw to be inadequate participant registration.
According to a letter from Lalit Kumar Himanshu, the undersecretary of the CBSE in Bhubaneswar, a school's low registration "may result in difficulties" for the continuation of its affiliation.
Every year, the Prime Minister attempts to ease students' exam anxiety at Pariksha Pe Charcha, an event that takes place in front of a crowd of teachers, parents, and students in an auditorium. Several television channels beam it as well as stream it live.
The government wants schools to register "participants" on a portal, which includes users of TV and the internet.
"To the Principal, There are extremely few registrations for "Pariksha Pe Charcha 2024" at your school. The CBSE Headquarters is scanning each school separately for registration, according to Himanshu's letter.
"It could cause problems to extend affiliations and related work if your school has low registration."
"You are requested to register as many students, parents, and teachers from your school as possible today itself," the message continued. The best and simplest method is for the teachers to register everyone at once.
"It is better to complete a task and face difficulties than to make excuses later."
According to a Delhi school principal, the CBSE instructed and subsequently reminded its affiliated schools in the city to register the participants online.
According to the principal of another school, the government had amassed a vast database of Class XII students through the registration procedure; many of them would have turned 18 this month and would therefore be qualified to vote in the Lok Sabha elections. During registration, the pupils divulge their contact information.
The purpose of the coercive approach used by the schools to encourage registration for the Pariksha Pe Charcha program was questioned in an email addressed to Nidhi Chhibbar, the chairwoman of the CBSE. We're waiting for her answer.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
