How Can We Do This? There Are State Boards Everywhere: Delhi High Court On PIL Seeking 'One Nation, One Education Board'

“How can we do this? There are State Board everywhere”, the Delhi High Court said on Monday while hearing a PIL seeking implementation of uniform school syllabus and education board across the country.

A division bench comprising of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Puskarna was hearing a plea moved by BJP leader and Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay seeking “One Nation-One Education Board.”

“What about the lists (under the Constitution of India)? How do we take care about the lists?….How can we stop them (States)?,” the court said to Upadhyay.

Upadhyay responded that it is purely a matter of equal opportunity and when there is a one examination for various subjects like medical, engineering etc, why should there be different curriculums.

On Upadhyay's oral request, the court impleaded National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in the PIL and sought its response.

The matter will now be heard on May 14, 2024.

Earlier, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) opposed the plea stating that a Uniform Board or Syllabus across India does not take into account the local context, culture and language.

“There is a national framework with flexibility for the emphasis of local resources, culture and ethos. A child can better relate to a curriculum that is more closely related to his/her life outside the school.Therefore, multiplicity of curricula and other educational resource is desirable in addition to a core common element," it had said.

The CBSE had also said that though the NCERT is notified as the academic authority to frame a national curriculum as per Section 7(6) of the Right to Education Act, the States have also notified State agencies such as SCERT and State Institutes of Education(SIE) for preparing the curriculum. This is because school education is a matter in the concurrent list.

In his plea, Upadhyay alleged, "The bitter truth is that school mafias don't want One Nation-One Education Board, coaching mafias don't want One Nation-One Syllabus and book mafias don't want NCERT books in all schools. That's why uniform education system up to 12th standard has not been implemented yet".

Case : Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay v. Union of India