The Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conduct surprise inspections of its affiliated schools to identify alleged dummy admissions and verify compliance with mandatory attendance requirements.
Information Commissioner Sudha Rani Relangi made the recommendation under Section 25(5) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, while hearing a complaint concerning alleged dummy admissions at private missionary schools in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The complaint alleged that students were being registered at schools and obtaining board examination results and certificates despite not attending regular classes. The commission said surprise inspections would help establish checks and balances and enable the board to verify whether schools were complying with their affiliation conditions.
“The Commission, considering the gravity of the issue flagged by the complainant seeking information regarding the issuance of dummy certificates by schools to students not attending classes, deems it fit to recommend the CBSE under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act, 2005 to exercise the power of conducting a surprise inspection,” the order stated.
What prompted the CIC recommendation?
The matter began with an RTI application seeking information on attendance requirements at private missionary schools in Bhopal, along with CBSE rules governing subject selection and prescribed textbooks.
The applicant said the request was intended to expose alleged dummy admissions, in which students remain enrolled on paper but do not attend classes regularly. Such arrangements are often associated with students attending coaching centres to prepare for competitive examinations while remaining registered at a school for board examinations.
The CBSE’s Central Public Information Officer initially returned the application, citing an error in the Indian Postal Order submitted as the application fee. The applicant was asked to submit a valid payment instrument payable to the CBSE secretary.
The CIC questioned the rejection on technical grounds and asked the public information officer to provide a point-wise response. The officer subsequently apologised and supplied the requested information, which was taken on record by the commission.
What do CBSE rules say about attendance?
The CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018, require students to attend school regularly and meet the prescribed attendance criteria to be eligible for board examinations.
In its response to the CIC, the board referred to the provision stating: “No affiliated school shall present the candidates to the Board's examination who are on its roll but have not attended the school appearance regularly or do not meet the requirement of minimum attendance for the Board's examination.”
The rules place responsibility on affiliated schools to ensure that candidates meet attendance requirements before they are presented for board examinations. Schools that enrol students who do not attend classes risk violating the board's affiliation conditions.
The CIC's recommendation asks the CBSE to use its inspection powers to check whether schools are complying with these requirements. It does not establish that any particular school has committed a violation.
What are dummy admissions?
Dummy admissions refer to arrangements in which students are formally enrolled in a school but do not attend regular classes, often because they spend their time at coaching centres preparing for competitive examinations such as NEET or JEE.
The arrangement allows students to remain registered for board examinations while prioritising entrance-examination preparation. However, schools are required to comply with attendance rules and cannot present students for board examinations if they fail to meet the prescribed requirements.
The practice has drawn scrutiny from education authorities. In January 2025, the CBSE reported that surprise inspections at 29 schools across several states and a Union territory had found enrolment irregularities and violations of affiliation norms. The inspections included checks on students recorded as enrolled but not attending classes.
