Maharashtra govt to review, regulate misleading school names | Mumbai News

Mumbai: The state govt has decided to review and regulate the names of schools across Maharashtra that are misleading or misrepresent information. The decision follows observations by the school education department that several institutions are using terms such as ‘international’ and ‘global’ in their names without offering an international curriculum, thereby creating confusion among parents, students and the general public. The Directorate of School Education has now clarified that these terms may be used only by schools that have branches abroad or are affiliated with international boards.In a circular dated Dec 15, the state’s Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education noted that there is a large degree of variation in the names of schools. “Some schools are affiliated to the state board, but use international, global, CBSE in their names. Similarly, some schools are approved as Marathi-medium schools but are using the term ‘English medium’ in their names,” stated the circular. It added that the use of words such as ‘global’ or ‘international’ is expected only when the school has branches overseas and when the school is affiliated to an internationally-recognised board. In some names, added the circular, the term ‘CBSE’ is used, which is not legally appropriate, as it refers to the central govt’s examination board.The circular noted: “In such circumstances, the possibility of misleading the govt, society, parents and students with such names cannot be ruled out…”The issue came up for discussion when a state-level authority was scrutinising the proposals for approval and upgradation of new, self-financed schools in a meeting held on Dec 10. It was decided that school names using misleading terms may have a negative impact on parents and students and therefore, should be instructed to change their names.Shriram Panzade, joint director, school education, said existing schools with such names will be reviewed too. Unless schools have a branch in two or more countries, they cannot call themselves global, he said. Schools which are not affiliated to Cambridge (Cambridge International Education) or the IB (International Baccalaureate) should not use the word ‘international’, he said.Additionally, the circular mentioned that while examining new proposals for school recognition in the future, a detailed consideration should be given to the school’s name, its board affiliation and medium, and other schools run by the same institution at the national or international level. If the name is misleading, they will be asked to change it, before recommending it to state authority. The department highlighted names of 11 new schools from across the state where the word ‘international’ has been used. Field officers have been asked to verify the school names before submitting revised proposals for these schools.In the list issued by the directorate office, there are schools from across the state offering state board, ICSE and even CBSE board curriculum, but have included the word ‘international’ and ‘global’ in their names.