PUNE: The National Council for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has instructed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to ensure that all affiliated schools in all the states follow a uniform curriculum.

The Council has asserted the use of the curriculum approved by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in order to maintain the educational uniformity.

In a letter written by Priyank Kanoongo of NCPCR, it was clearly stated that, “No child shall be discriminated and/ or harassed and/ or neglected by the school for carrying books published/ prescribed by the academic authority causing ‘mental or physical suffering’. Any action taken against the child may attract the provisions of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.”

While the private schools have been known to recommend books by private publishers to the students, under the section 29 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, it has been made mandatory for all schools to maintain uniformity in syllabus till Class VIII.

In the letter addressed to the state education departments, Kanoongo stated that it had come to the notice of the Council that certain Boards were violating the RTE Act by laying down their own curriculum and evaluation procedure. He added that the CBSE seemed to have misunderstood the concept of Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).

The letter reiterated that either NCERT or State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) are the only two nodding bodies for determining the curriculum, and any Board, on its own, does not have the liberty to do so. All the schools, private as well as those under the Central Government (Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Schools, etc.), had to follow same curriculum.