WBCHSE to function as State School Accreditation Authority

KOlkata: The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) will function as the State Level School Accreditation Authority (SSAA), with accreditation guidelines for schools receiving approval, council president Chiranjib Bhattacharya announced on Monday.

“WBCHSE has been entrusted with a very important responsibility — to function as the State School Accreditation Authority. I was a member of the committee, along with other officers, that framed the accreditation guidelines, and those guidelines have now been approved,” Bhattacharya said. Under the framework, schools will be accredited in different categories based on performance, on lines similar to the accreditation processes applicable to colleges, universities and engineering institutions.

The move follows the State Education Policy, 2023, which recommended the creation of an SSAA for qualitative and quantitative assessment of schools. Subsequently, the School Education Department issued an order on October 17, 2023, designating the WBCHSE as the authority and stating that the process would start at the higher secondary level. A five-member committee was also formed to develop the implementation framework.

The announcement was made at a Republic Day programme at Vidyasagar Bhavan in Salt Lake, where the council also launched the Bootstrap Programme for Madhyamik examinees 2026 as part of its Golden Jubilee initiatives. The programme aims to prepare Class X students for higher secondary education, particularly for newly introduced or upgraded subjects such as Modern Computer Applications, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Applied Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security. Short guidance modules in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology will also be offered. Highlighting efforts to increase enrolment in science streams, Bhattacharya said, “When I joined as president in 2021, the percentage of students in the science group was nine. At present, it has gone up to 14, and we want to take it to at least 20.”