Udgam School, one of the city’s most prestigious institutions, has abandoned the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) curriculum for its fresh Class 11 batch. It is not admitting students in Class 11 who wish to follow the GSHSEB curriculum.

Parents of the school are unhappy with the school’s decision. They said the school should have told them of its decision before the SSC board examination. But the school authorities blame the rules and say they will admit only those students in class 11 who are willing to study under the CBSE curriculum.

Parents of a student said on the condition of anonymity that as their child had done his SSC (under the GSHSEB curriculum) from the Udgam School, they were finding it difficult to get their ward admitted to another GSHSEB school.

Another parent said that the school had made the announcement about switching to CBSE in Class 11 only on the day the SSC results were released.

“We were shocked,” the parent said. “Our children have already enrolled into coaching classes for class 11 and 12 (Science stream) exams under the GSHSEB curriculum. We have paid fees in advance. If we had been told about the change 3-4 months back, we could have enrolled our children in coaching classes for the CBSE course.”

Principal of Udgam school, Radhika Iyer, said the school’s performance this year was outstanding as 95 of its Class 10 students had passed the SSC exam held by the GSHSEB.

“Only 5-10 students have shifted to other schools for the GSHSEB curriculum,” she said. “But 40 students have already taken forms
for admission in our school to CBSE-affiliated class 11.“They don’t want to change their school. We have offered students who want to study in a GSHSEB school that we would help them get admission to another institution, such as Swastik School.”

Manan Choksi, trustee of Udgam School, said that they had announced that they would be switching to CBSE from Class 11 this year.

“Under the rules, you can’t have classes of two boards one the premises of the same school,” Choksi said. “That’s why we have stopped admitting students who want to follow the GSHSEB curriculum.”

An official of the GSHSEB, however, said on the condition of anonymity that if any school wants to discontinue its affiliation to the board, it is necessary for it to first take permission from the GSHSEB.