Delhi Board scrapped, SoSE schools set for shift to CBSE board, ‘CM SHRI’ tag

NEW DELHI: Two months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forming government in Delhi, the Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) seems to have been scrapped. All schools affiliated to it till the last academic session, notably the Dr BR Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence (SoSE), are set to shift to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). According to sources, these schools will become “CM Shri Schools.”

The DBSE was formed in 2021 by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. With an agreement with the International Baccalaureate (IB board), three sets of affiliated schools – the BR Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence (SoSE), the Delhi Model Virtual School, and the Armed Forces Preparatory School (AFPS) – were running their curriculum.

The IB is a private international board that has thus far been associated mainly with high-end private schools. There were initially 20 SoSE schools in Delhi but their number grew over the years and now stands at around 37.

Along with it, the AAP government had also introduced the IB curriculum in 10 Sarvodaya Schools in east Delhi. Teachers and parents had raised objections and written to the Lieutenant Governor and other education authorities asking for the schools to be brought back under CBSE.

The director, directorate of education (DoE) had not responded to calls or messages till the time of publication. If and when she does, this story will be updated with her comments.

DBSE board and SoSE admission

These Schools of Specialised Excellence run from Classes 9 to 12 and offer specialisations listed below: .

• Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
• Humanities
• High-end 21st century skills
• Performing and visual arts

Admission to these is through a test. Shaheed Bhagat Singh-AFPS was started to provide training and prepare students of Classes 9 to 12 for successful enrolment in the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the armed forces. DMVS is a virtual school which enrolled students from all across the country.

A recent admission notification issued by one of the SoSEs states: “Aptitude test for the admission in Class 9 will be conducted very shortly for which detailed guidelines will be issued separately and the selected students will be enrolled under CBSE Board.”

This new notification comes despite registration for SoSE admission for the 2025-26 academic session closing in February itself. For DMVS, as per its website, admission is already closed.

A source close to the education department said, “DBSE will now be dissolved, as all these schools will again be bought under CBSE. ”

However, there is no clarity about the fate of students who are already studying in these schools and admitted in the previous academic session. A retired education official also shared that concerns had been raised about the functioning of the DBSE in the past as well.

There is also no clarity on the fate of the Delhi Sports School, also affiliated to the Delhi Board of School Education, Delhi.

CM SHRI schools

Not just a change in affiliation, the SoSEs as well as another set of ‘model schools’, Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya (RPVV) will be transformed into CM SHRI Schools.

PM SHRI schools are created through a controversial centrally-sponsored scheme, opposed by several states, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu. States have to sign an agreement with the central education ministry and funds for the Samagra Siksha Abhiyan – the main scheme supporting universalisation of school education – are linked to it. For a long time the Delhi government under AAP had not signed an MOU and funds had been withheld. In September last year, it signed an MOU following the fund crunch.

“The RPVV and SoSE will be made into CM SHRI schools over time but they will be running the CBSE curriculum,” said the source.

The RPVV schools were first established in 1997 and admitted students from Classes 6 to 12 through a test. Government school students who cleared the entrance exam got admission. SoSEs has 50% reservation for government and government aided school students.

The AAP government, however, converted most of the RPVVs into SoSE and admission was on hold from 2021. There were 21 RPVVs in Delhi. This year will be the last batch of remaining students who will pass out from RPVVs.