SCHOOL INSPECTOR NE HOME LEARNING KARYKRAM MA JODVA BABAT GCERT NO LATEST PARIPATRA

If a recent initiative by the state education department is to go by, parents will soon have a lot more than just word-of-mouth reviews to rely on, in choosing an appropriate school for their wards.

The state government is now planning a Gujarat School Quality Accreditation Council (GSQAC) – a body that will rate schools in the state based on a streamlined procedure, and will provide an accurate revelation of the school’s academic merit.

The state government had, on September 16, issued a general resolution about the formation of the GSQAC.

The state education minister and principal secretary of the education department will be the chairman and vice-chairman respectively, of the general body of the quality accreditation council.

Besides them, the primary education secretary, chairman of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), commissioner of schools, director of primary education, director of the Gujarat Council for Education Research and Training and three educationists appointed by the state government will be members of the body.

Sources in the state education department said, “Development of students’ potential depends on the quality of the school and the teachers. However, no system is available as yet, for evaluating the quality of education delivered by schools.

Hence, the GSQAC has been formed, with a view to evaluating the performance of schools as well as teachers, including government, non-government and grant-in-aid primary, secondary and higher secondary schools, as also for accrediting the schools according to those standards.”GSQAC will be having three committees, a general body – headed by the education minister, an executive committee headed by the principal secretary of the education department, and a committee for setting up the standards for evaluation and accreditation, to be headed by the secretary for primary education.

“However, the details are yet to be finalised. The GSQAC will rate schools in the state on the basis of the its management and teachers. But by the beginning of the next academic year slated to start in June 2011, all formalities will be completed and the GSQAC will likely be able to start accreditation of the schools,” said sources.