COVID Pandemic: CBSE Starts Virtual Inspection Of Schools
New Delhi, August 20, 2020: Beginning this month, CBSE has adopted the VIOS mode for school inspection to be eligible for upgradation from middle to secondary school or secondary to senior secondary school. This move will most likely mitigate the anxiety and on-ground problems of schools, informed CBSE secretary Anurag Tripathi.
As a sequel to the ongoing digital drive of CBSE VIOS is the latest in- house initiative implemented in COVID times. VIOS is being seen as a time and cost-effective facility for schools to upgrade affiliation status in the aforementioned categories, for an already affiliated school.
The provisions laid down in Affiliation Bye-Laws, 2018, mandate the affiliated schools to apply for upgradation from Middle-class syllabus to Secondary level or from Secondary level to Senior Secondary level. To assess the suitability, the Board appoints an Inspection Committee for physical inspection of the School (clause 10.1.10).
However, due to current COVID-19 pandemic, schools have been shut down, making it difficult to proceed with the existing procedures of physical inspection, while the students, by virtue of natural progression, now have to continue with the next classes IX or XI.
Therefore, to avoid an academic loss to the students and hardships to the schools, CBSE has decided to conduct “Virtual Inspection of Schools (VIOS)” for approximately 1000 cases registered for upgradation in session 2019-20 and 2020-21 instantly.
CBSE has defined Standard Operating Procedure to conduct Virtual Inspection of Schools (VIOS) which works on a digital platform in real-time and will give access to inspect the infrastructure such as additional classrooms, labs, availability of teachers for the classes or subjects required to qualify for upgradation of the school. The school and Inspection committee members will require a Smart Phone or a Tab, an IPAD or a Laptop with high-speed wi-fi internet connectivity.
