Explained: Why Are Student Bodies In Manipur Protesting Over CBSE Affiliation Of Schools?

Student bodies in Manipur’s Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts have staged protests after the Central Bureau of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently withdrew its affiliation from 25 schools in the districts and suspended three zonal education officers (ZEOs). A protest rally was organised by the Joint Students’ Body (JSB) who sealed Zonal Education Offices in Churachandpur and Pherzawl and served the government an ultimatum to revoke the orders or witness further agitation.

A similar rally was carried out in Kangpokpi by Kuki Students Organisation (KSO) who stopped the new ZEO in-charge from entering the main gate of the office in a fervent appeal to revoke the suspension order.

What is the CBSE affiliation row in Manipur?

The protests stem from the CBSE’s decision last year to de-affiliate 25 schools in the ethnic violence-hit northeastern state after the state government flagged to the central board some discrepancies over paperwork. The allegation was that these schools had obtained the No-Objection Certificate (NOC) by “fraud” and not from the state government, which is a legal requirement according to CBSE’s bylaws.

Subsequently, the CBSE SARAS 4.0 website, which updates the affiliation status of schools around India in real-time, stopped showing these 25 schools in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi as “affiliated”, an NDTV report stated.

“CBSE has withdrawn affiliation which was recently granted to the schools... with immediate effect on the ground that the NOCs submitted by these schools have not been issued by the authorised functionaries of the state government," Manipur school education joint secretary Anjali Chongtham said in a statement.

The state government formed a panel to probe the issuance of the NOCs and warned of legal action in case they found evidence that the signatures were forged.

Why Are Student Bodies Protesting In Manipur?

Students in the tribal areas of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, who have been severely affected by more than nine months of violent clashes between Meitei community and Kuki-Zo tribes, were hopeful that these schools which had only recently got CBSE affiliation could improve their educational infrastructure. 

However, with the affiliations now withdrawn, there are concerns that they will not have equal access to education as students in Meitei-dominated Imphal district. As a result, thousands of Kuki-Zo students joined the protest rally in Lamka town of Churachandpur carrying placards that read "Reverse CBSE Unjust De-affiliation," "CBSE: Don't Succumb to Manipur Govt Pressure," "CBSE only solution for the Kuki-Zo students," etc and demanded the reinstatement of the tribal officials.

JSB spokesperson Samuel Taithul told northeastern news agency Chronicle News Service that the Manipur government's move was unjustified and an attempt to ruin the students' careers.

JSB also submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister in which it sought immediate attention to the deplorable state of education in the 'Zo' districts of Manipur and help in reversing the suspension order, as well as re-affiliation of the 25 schools with CBSE.

The memorandum also alleged that the de-affiliation was politically motivated and stated that since the conflict in Manipur began last year, education has been severely impacted and has deprived Zomi-Kuki-Hmar-Mizo students of a fair educational system.