Rules & Regulations

(a) “Act” means the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (35 of

2009);

(b) “appointed date” means the date of publication of these rules in the Official Gazette;

(c) “age”, in respect of appropriate class, means—

(i) for Class I, the age of 6 years and above but less than 7 years of age;

(ii) for Class II, the age of 7 years and above but less than 8 years of age;

(iii) for Class III, the age of 8 years and above but less than 9 years of age;

(iv) for Class IV, the age of 9 years and above but less than 10 years of age;

(v) for Class V, the age of 10 years and above but less than 11 years of age;

(vi) for Class VI, the age of 11 years and above but less than 12 years of age;

(vii) for Class VI, the age of 12 years and above but less than 13 years of age;

(viii) for Class VH1, the age of 13 years and above but less than 14 years of age:

Provided that this definition of age shall be applicable for admission in class I on or after academic year 2013

“Special Training Centres” means the learning centres for children who have dropped out or  

never been enrolled in schools and are being enrolled in their appropriate age class for

bridging their learning gaps which may run for a period of three months to a maximum of two

years inside the school itself or in any appropriate place for the learners in exceptional cases

including ‘Home Based Education’ of children with special needs of severe categories;

(e) “Anganwadi worker” means an Anganwadi worker appointed under the Integrated Child

Development Scheme (ICDS) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development;

(f) “Board” means any one of the following under which a school is affiliated to or seeks to be

affiliated:

(a) the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, for school having Classes from I to

IV or

(b) the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, for schools for school having

Classes from V to X; or

(c) the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or;

(d) the Indian Council of Secondary Education (ICSE) or;

(e) the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education, and

(f) includes any other Board duly formed by or recognised by the Central or any

State Government or Union Territory;

(g) “State Commission for Protection of Child Rights” means the State Commission for

Protection of Child Rights constituted under section 17 of the Commissions for the Protection

of Child Rights Act, 2005 (No 4 of2006);

(h) “form” means the Form mentioned in the Schedule appended to these rules;

(i) “State Government” means the Government of West Bengal in the Department of School

Education;

(j) “implementing authority”, for the purposes of these rules, means the Paschim Banga Sarva

Siksha Mission or any other authority authorised in this behalf;

(k) “local authority” means

(i) in case of the rural areas, the Panchayat Samiti; and

(ii) in case of the urban areas, the Municipality or Borough in respect of Municipal

Corporations or any other urban authority duly notified;

(l) “neighbourhood” means, subject to the provisions of rule 4 of these rules, a Borough for an

area under a Municipal Corporation or a ward for an area under a Municipality or any other

urban authority duly notified and includes 21 Revenue village;

(m) “School mapping” means action taken by the State Government or the local authority to

locate the existence of schools in the neighbourhood and to assess the need for setting up new

schools and includes up-gradation of existing schools in accordance with the provisions of

these rules;

(n) “Schools under the local authority” means the schools being run by the urban local bodies

such as Municipalities and Municipal Corporations in urban areas and includes schools run

by any duly authorized Panchayat body, in the rural areas;

(o) “Schools of specified categories” means schools being run by the Departments of Panchayat

and Rural Development, Mass Education Extension, Women and Child Development and

Social Welfare, Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education and Backward Classes Welfare

and includes any other schools to be notified by the State Government from time to time;