ICSE board resorts to transparency

CALCUTTA : With transparency becoming the buzzword in policy circles in the right to information (RTI) era, the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations — that runs ICSE and ISC courses — has decided to throw open its doors to information-seekers.

From lifting the veil of secrecy on answer scripts to exposing the council’s activity to public scrutiny — the Delhi-headquartered council is gearing up to implement the RTI Act in letter and spirit.

In a first-of-its-kind move, the council is setting up a wing to deal with queries from not just students but from anyone interested in knowing about its activities. A whole-time information officer will be recruited for the wing.

“A committee set up by the council is examining the RTI legislation. The functioning of a new information wing will be decided on after the committee completes the exercise and submits its report,”said Gillian Rosemary Hart, a member of the council’s executive body and principal, Welland Gouldsmith School, Calcutta.

At present, ICSE-ISC examinees cannot approach the council directly or through their schools to see their answer sheets. A court order is a must for a student to see his/her scripts.

But the plan is to make answer scripts available to students if they directly approach the board and adopt a comprehensive policy with specific guidelines on providing council-related information to its affiliated schools, students, teachers, parents and even to government agencies.

“The council is an autonomous body and it does not avail of government grants. But it is also a public body and we don’t feel there is any harm in providing information to people,” said G. Arathoon, council deputy secretary.

The board authorities want to come up with the guidelines soon after examining the RTI Act.

While the board is silent on the trigger behind the move, sources link it to a missive from the ministry of human resources development. In a letter to the council in November, the ministry wanted details about its plans on implementing the RTI Act.

“The credibility of the ICSE-ISC examinations will rise and also, the accountability of the council will be upheld if the RTI wing is set up,” said a council source.

It is almost certain that ICSE and ISC will have to change the rules of the game in the next few months.

Now, the question is whether the state higher secondary council and the state secondary education board — neither board shows answer scripts to students — will follow suit.

“We will have to follow the ministry directive if asked to,” said Debashis Sarkar, secretary, West Bengal Council for Higher Secondary Education.

Syllabus tuned to entrance exams

CALCUTTA : Students of ICSE and ISC schools will find it a lot easier in a few years to crack the admission tests for a berth in the IITs, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other centres of excellence.

The Delhi-based Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations has decided to restructure the ICSE and ISC courses on the lines of the curriculum followed by the boards that conduct all-India admission tests for leading engineering and medical institutes.

The revised syllabus is likely to come into effect from 2010.

“Preparations are on to revise the ICSE and ISC syllabus. Our students should not feel handicapped while appearing for the all-India entrance exams once these changes are effected,” said a senior official, addressing a recent meeting of 800-odd principals and teachers of ICSE-ISC schools in the city.

At present, students of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools are at an advantage in cracking the all-India tests, as their Plus-II curriculum is quite similar to the one followed by the boards organising the admission tests.

The heads of the 1,400-odd ICSE-ISC schools in the country — more than 100 of them in Calcutta — have long been urging the Council authorities to restructure their syllabus to help their students fare better in the entrance tests.

“We have welcomed the Council’s decision. Many students will benefit from the changes,” said Keya Sinha, principal of Vivekananda Mission School and vice-president of a national-level body of principals of schools affiliated to the Council.

Sinha said the Council has also decided to reconstitute the syllabus committee and include subject experts in it.

Council officials told the principals at the meeting that all aspects of the changes need to be “thoroughly examined”.

A number of principals had pointed out that since the present ISC syllabus is not in tune with the all-India entrance tests, Class XII examinees are often over-burdened, studying two separate courses simultaneously.

The same same reason has prompted the state-controlled Madhyamik and the Higher Secondary boards to incorporate changes in their syllabi and make it more competitive.