New Delhi, India (PTI): A parliamentary panel has called for a unified national regulatory framework to standardise the functioning, evaluation criteria and common curriculum for all 65 education boards in line with the New Education Policy.
The recommendation is part of the Tenth Report (Eighteenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee on Estimates (2026-27) on "Budget and Policy aspects for providing Affordable and Quality Education in the Country including Review of Central Board of Secondary Education" presented to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The committee noted that there are 65 school education boards functional in India, divided into regular and open school boards operating at national and state levels.
"The major National level boards are Central Board of Secondary Education (with over 27000 schools), Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (with over 2300 schools), and the National Institute of Open Schooling," it said.
"Besides the national level boards, there are State boards at every State, and international boards like International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) also operate in India," it added.
The committee noted that while major central boards like the CBSE and CISCE maintain robust quality controls across thousands of school institutions, many state and open schooling systems continue to operate with different evaluation mechanisms, curriculum standards and operational efficiency.
The committee also noted that a critical regulatory mechanism controlling the establishment and expansion of private education boards is not available.
"The Committee are of the view that this lack of oversight might pose a direct threat to students' future and the standardisation of secondary education across the country," it said.
The committee further noted that it "may create dissimilarity in the knowledge of students who have to compete for securing seats in University and professional education".
In view of this, the committee strongly recommended that the Ministry of Education establish a unified national regulatory framework to standardise the functioning, evaluation criteria and common curriculum for all 65 education boards in line with the New Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
The committee further recommended that to address the proliferation of unauthorised private school institutions and boards, the ministry should mandate a strict, single-window clearance system before any new board can be granted authorisation.
It also recommended that the ministry launch a public digital repository providing details of all existing recognised national, state and international boards to protect students from unrecognised institutions.
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.
