The Madras High Court, in a bid to ease the burden on school children, has reiterated its decision of banning homework for the students of classes I and II who are studying in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools. The Madras HC on August 20 directed CBSE to either warn its affiliated schools to follow the court’s diktat or prepare to face strict consequences.

Ban homework in CBSE schools

Moreover, the court also directed CBSE to issue advertisements in all leading newspapers across the country stating that homework has been banned for the students of Classes I and II so that parents are informed about this advisory. According to The Hindu, the court order also said that the advert should also publicise the fact that children in classes I and II should not be taught any other subjects than mathematics and language. Reportedly, the judge also criticised CBSE for not ensuring systems for checking such violations.

On August 10, CBSE received flak from the High Court for not issuing circular on the homework ban to all schools that are affiliated to it. Justice N Kirubakaran, as reported by The Indian Express had then said, “The Central Board of Secondary Education has not understood the seriousness of this case and the directions issued by the court. CBSE authorities think they are like CBI but that’s not so.”

What happened?

The Madras High Court on May 30, 2018, had asked CBSE to reduce the weight of school bags for children and also ban homework for students of the said classes all over the country, irrespective of the educational board. It had also directed schools to set up flying squads in school to check if norms are being flouted by them. While the directive was to come into effect from the academic year of 2018-2019, when it came to the matter of compliance, the court only directed CBSE to issue adverts.

The recent order was passed by Justice N Kirubakaran in response to the plea by advocate M Purushothaman, seeking a direction to the CBSE to follow only NCERT prescribed books and syllabus. According to News 18, Petitioner M Purushothaman said, “When NCERT is giving such well-researched books, why are private CBSE schools forcing children to buy private publishers’ books. In General Knowledge book, children are asked to identify celebrities, including Rajinikanth. Since private schools are charging more and they don’t have experienced teachers, they are not able to comprehend students. This is spoiling the entire education system.”

Reportedly, the CBSE in a subsequent hearing had informed the court that even though it would implement the no homework order, it would file an appeal against all other orders including using only NCERT books. However, it had also informed the court that the circular on homework was yet to be issued.

In 2017, the HRD Ministry had mandated that CBSE schools should purchase books published by NCERT, which was challenged by a private management in Tamil Nadu. After a stay had been granted, CBSE allowed private publishers to sell books at CBSE schools, reported News18.

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