Chapter 2 Constitution, Incorporation And Powers Of Board

3 .(1) With effect on and from such date as the State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette notify in this behalf, there shall be established for the purposes of this Act a Board to be called the Gujarat Secondary Education Board. The Board shall be body corporate and have perpetual succession and a common seal and may by the said name sue and be sued and shall be competent to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and to do all things necessary for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman, both of whom shall be appointed by the State Government and of the following members that is to say-

Class A-Ex-Officio Members.

(i) The Director of Education.

(ii) The Director of Technical Education.

(iii) The Director of Agriculture.

(iv) The Chairman of the Board of Primary Education.

(v) The Director, Gujarat State Board of School Text Books.

(iv) The Director, State Institute of Education.

(vii) The Director of Man Power, Employment and Training.

(viii) An officer of the Education Department not below the rank of a Deputy Secretary designated by the State Government.

(ix) The Chairman, State Board of Examinations.

(x) The Chairman, Technical Examination Board : Provided that if there is no post having any of the designations mentioned above, the State Government may designate any officer holding a corresponding post, who deals, with the matters that would be normally connected with such post.

Class B-Elected Members

(i) One member elected from amongst themselves by the members of the Academic Council of each University and of the institutions recognized by the University Grants Commission or declared by the Central Government as Universities in accordance with the provisions of clause (f) of section 2 or of section 3, as the case may be, of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 :

Provided that where there is no Academic Council in any University or such institution recognized or declared as university, such authority of the University, or, as the case may be, such institution as may be approved by the State Government in this behalf shall be deemed to be the Academic Council of such University, or as the case may be, institution, for the purpose of this clause.

(ii) Five members elected by the headmasters of registered schools other than Post Basic Schools from amongst themselves.

(iii) One member elected by the head-masters of the post basic schools registered under this Act, from amongst themselves.

(iv) Five members elected by the teachers of registered schools other than Post Basic Schools from amongst themselves.

(v) One member elected by the teachers of Post Basic Schools registered under this Act, from amongst themselves.

(vi) One member elected by the Principals of the Secondary Teachers Training Colleges and Graduate Basic Training Colleges from amongst themselves in such manner as may be prescribed.

(vi-a) One member elected by the non-teaching staff of registered private secondary schools from amongst themselves.

(vii) Two members elected by the representatives of managements of registered secondary schools registered under the Societies Registration Act, 19860 from amongst themselves in such manner as may be prescribed.

(viii) Two members elected by the representative of managements of registered secondary schools registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 from amongst themselves in such manner as may be prescribed.

(ix) Three members elected by the Presidents of the Parents' Associations of registered private secondary schools from amongst themselves.

Explanation-In this clause,-

(1) "Parents' Association" in relation to any registered private secondary schools shall mean an association of parents and guardians of students of that school, formed and recognized by the headmaster of that school, whether before or after the appointed day. 1. Clause (vi-a) was inserted by Guj. 8 of 1983, s. 2.

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(a) in relation to a Parents' Association whose President is a headmaster, a teacher, a manager or a member of a governing body or other body in charge of the management of the school, "President" shall mean such member of that Association other than such headmaster, teacher, manager or, as the case may be, member, as may be authorized in writing by the Association; and

(b) in a case where the President of a Parent's Association is himself absent or incapable of acting, the President shall, for the purpose of electing a member under this clause, mean such other member of that Association as may be authorized in writing by the Association for that purpose.

(x) Five members elected by the Gujarat Legislative Assembly from amongst its members in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote :

Provided that for the purposes of clauses (ii) and (iv) of this Class the registered schools other than post basic schools in the State shall from time to time be so arranged by the State Government in five groups that the number of such schools in any one group shall be as near as possible to twenty percent of the total number of such schools in the State, and the head-masters or, as the case may be the teachers of such schools in each such group shall elect one member :

Provided further that for the purpose of clause (ix) the State Government shall, by an order published in the Official Gazette, divide the State into three regions each having as far as possible an equal number of registered private secondary schools within the areas comprised therein and the Presidents of Parents' Associations in each such region shall elect one member :

Provided further that a person shall cease to hold office as a member of the Board if he ceases to be a member of the Academic Council or of the institution which elected, him, or ceases to be a head-master or teacher of a registered school or the Principal of a Secondary Teachers Training College or a Graduate Basic Training College or a representative of the management of the registered secondary schools or a President of a Parents' Association or as the case may be, a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly :

Provided also that where the Board is constituted for the first time the members of this Class shall be nominated by the State Government from amongst persons qualified to be elected as members of this Clause.

Class C-Nominated Members

Three members nominated by the State Government from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in the field of Science, Industry or Commerce.

3. The names of persons (not being ex-officio members) who have been elected or nominated fro time to time, as members of the Board shall be published by the Board in the Official Gazette.

4. The headquarters of the Board shall be at such place as may be determined by the State Government.

5. (1) The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman shall be appointed for such period not exceeding four years from the date of their appointment as the State Government may in each case determine.

(2) The State Government may from time to time extend the term of office of the Chairman or Deputy Chairman so however that the total period for which the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman may hold office shall not exceed eight years.

(3) The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman shall not be eligible for reappointment.

(4) The salaries or, as the case may be honoraria, allowances and other conditions of service of the Chairman, and the Deputy Chairman shall be such as may be determined by the State Government.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1) and (2) the State Government may, after giving him a reasonable opportunity of being heard, terminate the appointment of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman at any time before the expiry of the period of appointment determined or extended under the said sub-sections, and shall terminate his appointment if he becomes subject to any of the disqualifications indicated in clause (a) or (c) of section 8.

6 (1) The members of the Board other than ex-officio members shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which their names are published in the Official Gazette :

Provided that the State Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette having regard to special circumstances to be specified therein, extend such term for such period as may be specified therein, so however, that the period of extension shall not exceed one year in the aggregate.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) the members nominated by the State Government on the Board constituted for the first time after the appointed day, shall hold office for such term not exceeding two years from that date on which the names of the members of the Board so constituted are published in the Official Gazette as may be determined by the State Government :

Provided that the State Government may from time to time extend the period so determined so however that the period for which such members may hold office shall not exceed two years in the aggregate :

Provided further that the term of out going members referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall extend to, and expire with the day immediately preceding the date on which the names of their successors are published in the Official Gazette.

7. Where a temporary vacancy in the office of the Chairman or Deputy Chairman occurs, by reason of leave or illness of the incumbent of that office or due to any other cause, the State Government may appoint another person to be the Chairman or as the case may be, the Deputy Chairman during the period of such vacancy on such salary, or as the case may be honorarium, allowances and other conditions of service as may be determined by the State Government.

8. A person shall be disqualified for being appointed or for continuing, as Chairman or Deputy Chairman, or for being elected or nominated or for continuing as a member of the Board or for being appointed as, or for being or continuing, as a member of any committee appointed under this Act-

(a) if he directly or indirectly by himself or his partner,

(i) has or had any share or interest in any guide book published in connection with any text book prescribed for the Secondary School Certificate Examination or any other examination as may be decided upon by the Board or entrusted to the Board by the State Government : or

(ii) has any share or interest in any work done by order of or in any contract entered into by or on behalf of the Board: Provided that a person who had any share or interest in any guide-book referred to in sub-clause (i) shall not be deemed to have incurred the disqualification under that sub-clause, if five years have elapsed from the date of publication of such guide book ;

(b) if he is a person against whom an order of removal from office has been made under sub-section (1) of section 14 and five years have not elapsed from the date of his removal from office;

(c) if he- (i) has been adjudged by a Court of law to be of unsound mind; (ii) is an undischarged insolvent ; (iii) has been convicted by a court of law for an offence involving moral turpitude.

9. If a member of the Board or any Committee becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 8, his office shall thereupon become vacant.

10. If a member elected or nominated on the Board remains absent without the permission of the Chairman from any three consecutive meetings thereof, his office shall thereupon become vacant.

11. If any question arises as to whether the office of any member has become vacant under section 9 or 10, the question shall be referred for the decision of the State Government. The State Government shall, after giving reasonable opportunity to be heard to the member, decide the question and its decision shall be final.

12. Any vacancy under section 9 or 10 shall be notified by the Board in the Official Gazette.

13. (1) A member of the Board not being an ex-officio member may resign his office at any time by tendering his resignation in writing to the Chairman of the Board. (2) If the Chairman accepts the resignation, such acceptance shall be communicated to the Board, and the office of the member shall become vacant from the date of acceptance of the resignation.

14. (1) The State Government may, on the recommendation of the Board and after making such inquiry, if any, as it may think fit to make, remove any elected or nominated member of the Board from office, if such member has been guilty of any such misconduct as in the opinion of the State Government, renders him unfit to be continued as a member : Provided that, no such recommendation shall be made by the Board and no removal of the member shall be made by the State Government unless the member to whom it relates has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause why such recommendation should not be made, or as the case may be, why he should not be removed. (2) The name of any member who has been removed from office under subsection (1) shall be published by the Board in the Official Gazette.

15. (1) The Board shall meet not less than three times in every year and ordinarily four months shall not intervene between any two successive meetings. (2) The Chairman may, at any time,, and shall, upon the written request of not less than one third of the total number of members of the Board, call a special meeting of the Board, on a date not later than twenty one days after the receipt of such request by the Chairman.

16 .The Board may invite any person who in its opinion is an expert in any field of education or any Government Officer to attend its meeting or a meeting of any of its committees, if the subject with which the expert or officer is concerned, is likely to come up or comes up for discussion or consideration at such meeting.

17. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the powers and duties of the Board shall be as follows, namely :- (1) to advise the State Government on reference made to it or on its own motion on matters of policy relating to secondary education in general, and on the following matters in particular, namely :-

(a) evolution of suitable patterns of secondary education :

(b) prescription and maintenance of educational standards for such patterns of secondary education ; (c) integration of national and State policy in respect of secondary education ;

(d) matters pertaining to educational planning programme and organization ;

(2) to recommend to the State Government the curricula and detailed syllabi relating to secondary education and to approve and to recommend to the State Government the text books prepared by the Gujarat State Board of School Text Books for the use in the registered schools :

(3) to organize programmes to re-train teachers already in service ;

(4) to prescribe measures for promotion of physical, moral, and social welfare of, and for inculcation of spirit of discipline among student in registered, schools and to prescribe standards of condition of residence to be provided in hostels ;

(5) to guide and help registered schools in their search for talent and their endeavor to lead them to peaks of excellence ;

(6) to permit and encourage a registered school to carry out useful educational experiments and research in secondary education and to prescribe the conditions subject to which such experiments and research shall be carried out;

(7) to prescribe conditions to be fulfilled by the manager of a secondary school for getting the school registered ;

(8) to recommend to the State Government a cut in maintenance grant if after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the management of the school, the Board is of opinion that a registered school, has failed to observe any of the conditions of registration or that a registered school is conducted in a manner which is prejudicial to the interests of education or has failed to carry out any instructions issued by the Board to ensure maintenance of academic standards in secondary education ;

(9) to conduct statistical and other research for the purpose of evaluation and reform of the curricula, instruction and examination and to guide registered schools in conducting such research ;

(10) to lay down standards for testing students, for conducting examinations and for promotion of students from one standard to the next higher standard of a registered school ;

(11) to prescribe the standards, including qualifications, for appointment of the staff of a registered school and the standard requirements in respect of building, laboratory, library, furniture, equipment, stationery and other articles for conducting registered schools ;

(12) to recommend to the registered schools supplementary reading books and library books ;

(16) to exercise proper and effective control on the academic performance and conduct of head-masters and teachers of registered private secondary schools and to issue instructions in that behalf to the managements of such schools ;

(17) to register, in accordance with the prescribed procedure, secondary school for teaching such subjects in standards eight and onwards leading to the Secondary School Certificate Examination as it deems fit and to grant permission for opening higher standards or additional divisions of existing standards in such schools ;

(18) to withdraw registration of secondary schools either in whole or in part after following the prescribed procedure ;

(19) to lay down conditions for admission of students in registered schools ;

(20) to prescribe the number of students to be admitted in a division of any standard in a registered school ;

(21) to lay down conditions for migration of students from one registered school to another ;

(22) to regulate the arrangements of school terms, holidays and vacations of registered schools ;

(23) to regulate the method of preparing and keeping registers and other records in respect of academic matters, by registered schools ; (24) to cause academic inspection of registered schools by a person authorized by it and to take measures to ensure that proper standards of education are maintained therein and that adequate library and laboratory provisions are made therein ;

(25) to call for any reports and information from any registered school;

(26) to lay down qualifications, methods of selection and conditions of appointment, promotion and termination of employment and rules for conduct and discipline of the headmaster and the teaching and non-teaching staff of registered private secondary schools ;

(27) to lay down conditions for admission of regular and private candidates to the Secondary School Certificate Examination and such other examinations as may be decided upon by the Board or entrusted to it by the State Government (hereinafter referred to as "other examination") ;

(28) to conduct the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations and award certificates to candidates passing the examinations ;

(29) to require the registered schools to-extend co-operation in the conduct of the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations;

(30) to appoint paper setters, examiners, moderators, supervisors and other necessary personnel for conducting the Secondary Schools Certificate Examination and other examinations, for the evaluations of the performance of the candidates and for compilation and declaration of results ;

(31) to open centers for the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations conducted by it ;

(32) to declare the results of the candidates appearing at the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations conducted by it ;

(33) to deal with, according to the prescribed procedure, cases of use of unfair means in relation to the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations or administration of a registered school ;

(34) to generally evaluate the performance of students at all examinations in registered schools, including the Secondary School Certificate Examination ;

(35) to institute and award scholarship, stipends, medals, prizes and other rewards and to prescribe conditions thereof;

(36) to organize the setting of question papers for the Secondary School Certificate Examination and other examinations ;

(37) to administer its fund ;

(38) to receive grants, bequests, donations, endowments, trusts and other transfers of any property or interest therein or right thereto ; (39) to hold any property, interest or right preferred to in clause

(38) and to manage and deal with the same ;

(40) to demand and receive such fees, royalties and charges including penalties as may be prescribed ;

(41) to consider and approve the annual reports, annual accounts and to prepare financial estimates and to forward the same to the State Government for its sanction ;

(42) on receipt of a notice under section 44 in regard to any registered private secondary school to encourage the management of any existing registered school to take such action as may be considered necessary for keeping the school proposed to be closed down in a state of continuous functioning or to encourage the formation of a new management for a like purpose ;

(43) to make regulations for purposes of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act ;

(44) to make by-laws relating to matters such as procedure to be followed by the Board and Committees, traveling allowances to be drawn by members of the board and Committees and any other matters Solely concerning the Board and its Committees that are not provided for by this Act and the regulations made there under ;

(45) to exercise such other powers; and to perform such other duties as may be conferred or imposed upon it by or under this Act ;

(46) to do all other such acts and things as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. 18.

(1) For the performance of its functions the Board shall appoint from amongst its members an Executive Committee and an Examination Committee and may appoint such other Committees as it thinks necessary and it shall be lawful for the Board to appoint a person who is not a member of the Board as a member of any such Committee : Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to preclude the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman from being named by the Board as a member of any such Committee : Provided further that where the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman is named as a member of any Committee, the Chairman or, as the case may be, the Deputy Chairman shall be the Chairman of such Committee.

(2) Subject to the provision contained in sub-section (1), the constitution of every Committee appointed by the Board under sub-section (1), the term of office of its members and the functions of the Board to be performed by it shall be such as may be prescribed. Explanation.-For the purpose of this section the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Board shall be deemed to be its members.

19. (1) The Chairman shall, when present, preside at the meetings of the Board and in his absence the Deputy Chairman shall preside at such meetings. Provided that if at any meeting of the Board the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are both absent, the members present shall elect a member from amongst themselves to preside at the meeting.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Chairman to ensure that the provision of this Act and regulations and by-laws made there under are faithfully observed and he shall have all powers necessary for this purpose.

(3) In an emergency which, in the opinion of the Chairman, requires that immediate action should be taken, the Chairman shall take action as he deems necessary and shall, thereafter, report his action to the Board at its next meeting.

(4) The Chairman shall have power to convene meetings of the Board as provided for in section 15 and stating the business to be brought before the meeting.

(5) The Chairman shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed.

(6) The Deputy Chairman shall perform such duties and functions as may be prescribed or as may be assigned to him by the Chairman from time to time.

(7) Subject to the provisions of section 7, the Deputy Chairman shall in the absence of the Chairman act as Chairman and shall, while so acting, exercise all powers and perform all duties and functions of the Chairman.

(8) The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman shall be entitled to take part in all proceedings of the Board and of any committee thereof of which they may be named as members, including the exercise of right to vote, but save as otherwise provided, they shall not be deemed to be the members of the Board.

20. (1) The Board shall have a Secretary who shall be appointed by the State Government.

(2) The Secretary shall, subject to the control of the Chairman, be the Executive officer of the Board, and all other officers and servants for the time being serving under the Board shall be subordinate to him.

(3) He shall exercise such powers as may be prescribed.

(4) He shall be entitled to be present tat the meetings of the Board and its Committees but shall not be entitled to vote.

(5) The State Government may appoint one or more Joint Secretaries or Assistant Secretaries for the Board, as the State Government may, having regard to the requirements of the Board, think fit to appoint.

(6) A Joint Secretary or an Assistant Secretary shall exercise such powers and perform such duties of the Secretary as are respectively assigned to him by the Secretary under the general or special orders of the Chairman.

21. The State Government may appoint such other officers and servants as may be required to enable the Board to discharge its functions under this Act: Provided that the State Government may by order delegate to the Chairman or to the Secretary, the powers of appointing such classes of servants may be specified in the order.

22. The Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary, Join and Assistant Secretaries and other officers and servants appoint under this Act shall be the servants of the State Government, and they shall draw their salaries or as the case may be honoraria and allowances from the Consolidated Fund of the State. The salaries and allowances and other conditions of service of these officers other than the Chairman and Deputy Chairman shall be such as may be