State government unaware about 14 Manipur schools getting CBSE affiliation in last six months
Guwahati: A massive controversy has broken out regarding affiliation by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to 14 schools in two hill districts of strife-torn Manipur.
According to information provided on the CBSE website 10 schools in the Kangpokpi district, and four in the Churachandpur district have been newly affiliated with the board in the past six months.
The affiliation will come into effect from April 1, 2024.
The state government on the other hand has said that they are unaware of such a development as all state-run schools need a no-objection certificate (NOC) to apply for CBSE affiliation.
The Manipur education minister Th Basanta in a statement said the state government has not given any no-objection certificate (NOC) to schools for CBSE affiliation in the past six months.
The Manipur school education joint secretary Anjali Chongtham said in a statement, “It is to clarify for general information that the state government has not issued any NOC for affiliation with CBSE to any of the educational institutions in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts since May 2023.”
According to reports, the zonal education officer (ZEO) of Churachandpur district is N Tikendrajit Singh but the signature on the NOC was not his. Someone else signed the NOC using the term “for” and there were different signatures in different NOCs.
Whereas, the NOCs for schools in Kangpokpi district were signed by the ZEO, Lingtinneng Singshit.
The education minister told reporters in Imphal that the last time the state government gave a NOC for CBSE affiliation was in May 2020.
The education minister has further clarified that he has spoken to the district ZEOs and they have denied signing any NOC.
Moreover, ZEOs are not authorised to issue such NOCs as approval of the minister and commissioner concerned is mandatory for the same.
