West Bengal Board of Primary Education

Policies, Functions and Challenges

The West Bengal Primary Education Act promulgated as early as in 1973 and amended from time to time vests in the West Bengal Board of Primary Education the development both in quantitative and qualitative terms, supervision, management and control of the entire primary education in West Bengal. The Board claims uniqueness on two distinct counts:
* In the whole country the Board is the only one that has been created and entrusted with the sole authority to manage, supervise, develop and control primary education in the state.
* Quite in tune with the avowed policy of the State Government, the Board, a democratically elected autonomous body, symbolizes democratization and decentralization of the entire primary education in the State. As many as 19 District Primary School Councils in the districts, all democratically elected bodies, work for primary education under the aegis of the Board which is headed by its President, who is assisted by an Executive Secretary.
A resume, however of powers & functions of the Board including those vested in it by the West Bengal Primary Education Act, 1973 is given below:
A resume however, of the powers and functions of the Board including those vested in it by the West Bengal Primary Education Act, 1973 is given below:
* Framing up of the syllabi and curriculum of the Primary Stratum of School education and developing learning competency based text-books for the students of the Primary level.
* Preparing and providing books to be studied in the Primary Schools.
* According approval to setting up Primary Schools on the basis of the quota of the Schools fixed by the State Government.
* Prescribing the curriculum, the syllabus and the Courses of Studies of the Primary Teachers' Training Institutes.
*Granting recognition to Primary Teachers' Training Institutes to be run by Registered Societies without any financial assistance from The Government.
* Conducting Primary Teachers' Training Examination.
* Awarding Diplomas, Certificates, Prizes, Scholarships in respect of any examination conducted by the Board.
* Holding Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation as school-based evaluation system, an External Evaluation (at the end of Class II) and finally a Diagnostic Achievement Test at the class IV to ascertain gaps in learning-competencies in order to ensure remedial teaching-learning) both at Board level and District level with co-operation from the District Primary School Councils and other district authorities namely District Magistrate, Sabhadhipati, Sabhapati of Panchayet Samity and BDO's (of all the blocks) and other organisations and distinguished persons in the district.
* Conducting need based extensive teacher-orientation programmes to empower teachers for imparting proactive, participatory and joyful instructions.
* Developing teacher guide books / manuals, teacher orientation modules along with Course-books of different classes on different languages at the Primary stage.
* Transferring any teacher or non-teaching staff from a Primary School within the jurisdiction of one Primary School Council to another Primary School Council.
* Transferring any officer or employee other than the Secretary and the Finance Officer, from one Primary School Council to another Primary School Council or to the Board or from the Board to a Primary School Council.
* Exercising general supervision and control over the work of the Primary School Councils and for that purpose to issue such instructions to the Primary School Councils relating to Primary Education and to call for reports from the Primary School Councils on matters relating to Primary Education.
* Advising the State Government on all matters relating to Primary Education referred to it by the State Government.
* Performing such other functions and discharge such other duties as may be prescribed by the rules made or notifications or orders issued by the State Government under the Act of 1973.
* School sports - awarding scholarships, distribution of clothes to the students of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar State Sports School, Banipur, 24 Pgs. (N) before festival.
* Undertaking projects in collaboration with national & international agencies such as NCERT, NIEPA, NCTE, UNICEF, BRITISH COUNCIL, EUROPEAN COMMISSION etc.