The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made an announcement mandating all the affiliated schools to conduct an annual self-assessment against the School Quality Assessment and Assurance Framework (SQAAF) on the CBSE SQAA Portal. The process of self-assessment should be carried out on or before December 31, 2025, and will be an integral part of the process of school affiliation and upgradation.

Based on the official circular of CBSE, this direction follows on the heels of the earlier notifications such as Circular No. 14/2023 dated March 24, 2023, placed on the CBSE SARAS portal and a notification put on December 30, 2024, on the Academic website of CBSE. All schools need to ensure that the self-assessment of their institutions is current and valid, particularly while seeking the extension of the affiliation. If the validity of the earlier self-assessment is lapsed, schools will have to go through the process anew before making applications for any shift in their status of affiliation. 

The self-assessment process of SQAAF is meant to be a comprehensive assessment of overall functioning, quality, and performance of a school across different aspects. Schools need to evaluate themselves on parameters determined in advance and upload their conclusions on the portal. Once they submit the self-assessment, they also have to prepare a self-improvement plan according to their own identified strengths, weaknesses, and resources available. The improvement plan is very important for the long-term growth of the school and needs to be completed after finishing the self-assessment.

A notable feature of the process is that schools won’t be allowed to make any addition or modification once they’ve filed their final self-assessment. Hence, they are suggested to check everything very carefully prior to submission. However, they shall be allowed to download their final reports for the purpose of records. Also, CBSE has made it clear that only 2024 year-wise overall scorecards shall be available on the portal.

The self-assessment and self-improvement plan will be effective for one year. If the validity of a school expires before they submit affiliation-related processes, they will be required to undertake the self-assessment once again to fulfill CBSE’s compulsory requirements. The assessment is designed to improve schools’ educational standards by periodically testing their performance and adjusting according to their assessment scores.

CBSE also announced that it will not mandate schools to upload supporting documents during the self-assessment. Still, they must keep a record of all necessary supporting documents with them. Whenever a school has an extension, affiliation, or upgradation on their due dates, CBSE may request that they upload mandatory documents for validation. In addition, certain schools could be chosen for Physical Quality Review, where they will be asked to produce documentary evidence in respect of their claims as per self-assessment.

The implementation of the annual SQAAF self-assessment reflects CBSE’s determination to ensure high standards of education in its affiliated schools. Through this mandatory annual assessment, CBSE seeks to ensure that there is continuous improvement and compliance with the quality standards laid down by the board.

Schools are advised to fill out their self-assessment and self-improvement documents carefully, as these would have a direct influence on their future growth and adherence to CBSE policies. The structure is meant to be an introspective activity where schools can set areas of improvement and initiate steps for improving their learning environment.

CBSE’s move is likely to introduce a more organized methodology to the school assessment and development process. By ensuring self-evaluation as a compulsory and yearly exercise, the board keeps the schools on their toes with respect to performance and constantly working towards improvement.