The largest secondary education board of country — Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) — with more than 40 lakhs passouts on an average annually, has launched a massive crackdown on ‘dummy’ schools which has been mushrooming in connivance with the competitive exams’ coaching centres to facilitate 12th board exam aspirants without going to schools.
Authorities at CBSE, which has been on crackdown spree for some time now and has conducted 400 such surprise operations, said class 12 students enrolled in ‘dummy schools’ shall be prohibited from taking board exams. A minimum of 75 per cent attendance is mandatory for students to be eligible to appear for the board examinations. In case the required attendance is not met, merely enrolling at a non-attending school may not entitle such students to appear for the CBSE examination and such students may approach the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to appear in the examination if not allowed by CBSE.
The Delhi High Court has also addressed the issue of dummy schools, labelling their operation as a “fraud.” The court ordered CBSE and the Delhi government to take action. On January 27, 2025, a Bench led by Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed authorities to enforce attendance standards at these institutions. The court also demanded a detailed affidavit from both CBSE and the Delhi government outlining measures to prevent fraudulent admissions and ensure a well-rounded educational experience for students.
Officials said the responsibility lies on both the parents and students for regular school attendance failing which they will have serious repercussions. In recent times there had been a fashion in the country that students preparing for competitive entrances like engineering (JEE) or medicals (NEET) get enrolled in a CBSE affiliated school after 10th to complete plus two without even going to schools and directly appear for the 12th board exams, and all facilitated by the coaching centres.
For instance thousands of students from across the country have made their base for entrance exams preparations in the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan while they are enrolled for school education in their States. “The practice of students attending coaching centres while being officially enrolled in schools has to come to an end. Whichever the Board exams, be it CBSE, ICSE any State Education Boards, a certain criteria of attendance requirements is a must to enable the student to appear for the exam,” said a senior Education Ministry official.
The officials said that National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is to encourage holistic learning but the coaching centres and parents together seems to prioritise coaching centres over regular schooling for the millions of students.
The issue of dummy schools came into the spotlight when a student from such an institution recently secured the top position in the JEE (Main). SGN Public School in Nangloi, where the student was registered, had been disaffiliated last year due to multiple violations, including enrolling students who did not attend classes. A surprise inspection uncovered the school’s non-compliance with CBSE norms, prompting strict action.
In its ongoing crackdown the CBSE is likely amend examination bye-laws to disallow such students from appearing in the board exams and will have to take the NIOS test.
