Tenure of managing committees in schools extended

Kolkata: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has extended the tenure of the managing committees of educational institutions across the state till July 15. The move comes with the WBBSE expecting that the dates for the Panchayat elections will be announced soon.

“It has come to the notice of the Board that large number of schools have submitted election programmes for their respective managing committees in the month of April and May 2023. However, due to the upcoming Panchayat elections, whose schedule is expected to be announced shortly, resulting in pre-election restrictions, therefore constitution of managing committee/organizing committee/ adhoc committees will not be possible,” read the notification issued by Secretary of WBBSE Subrata Ghosh to the heads of all recognised secondary schools.

The notification further reiterates that to avoid administrative vacuum and consequent hardship upon schools, the extension of the managing committee has taken place. No election programme should be conducted for reconstitution of managing committees till July 15.

The Board reserves the right to appoint administrator/adhoc committee where the same will be necessary for administrative reasons.

“A good number of school teachers will be roped in for conducting of the Panchayat elections and the school buildings will be used as polling booths. So, it will not be possible to hold managing committee elections in recent times,” a Board official said.

Chandan Maity, the state general secretary of Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses, demanded managing committee elections in schools immediately after the conclusion of the Panchayat polls. “The managing committee of the government sponsored schools, which comprise 90 percent of the schools in the state, is being constituted by the state government without any election. We demand selection of managing committees in a democratic manner by holding elections.”