CHAPTER XV: INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS

January 20, 2025

1. For administrative control and the inspection of schools, the State shall be divided into Educational Districts each comprising specified areas. Each Educational District shall be in the charge of a District Educational Officer. Each District Educational Officer shall have administrative control over all schools in the Educational District except as otherwise provided in rule 6 and he shall be subordinate to the Director.

2. Each Educational District shall be divided into a number of sub districts each under the charge of an Assistant Educational Officer who shall be immediately subordinate to the District Educational Officer.

3. The area of jurisdiction of each District Educational Officer and Assistant Educational Officer will b fixed by the Government.

4. Secondary Schools, Training Schools and Special Schools shall be under the immediate administrative and inspectional control of the District Educational Officer.

5. Primary Schools (Lower and Upper) including Basic primary Schools shall be under the immediate administrative and inspectional control of the Assistant Educational Officer.

6. Model Schools attached to the Government Training Colleges] shall be under the immediate administrative and inspectional control of the Principals of the respective Training Colleges, who in respect of the Model Schools shall combine in themselves the functions and powers of a District Educational Officer.

7. The Inspector for Muslim Education shall be responsible for the organisation and supervision of the teaching of Arabic in all Schools in the State and he shall be immediately subordinate to the Director*/DDE.

(*.* The powers of the Director under Rule 7 are delegated to the Deputy Directors (Education) within their respective jurisdiction as per G.O (P) 52/80/G.Edn.dated: 7-05-1980 published in Gazette No. 26 dated: 24-06-1980.).

8. In addition to the officers referred to in the foregoing Rules any Officer may, with the sanction of the Government be deputed by the Director to act as inspecting officer for particular purposes.

9. The Educational Officer shall:-

(1) Control and be responsible to his superior for the efficient working of all schools placed in his charge in accordance with the provisions of 163 the Kerala Education Act, 1958, the Rules issued under it, and such other orders or instructions as may be in force from time to time.
(2) Supervise and be responsible to his superior for the efficiency of the work of all Officers subordinate to him;
(3) have a full and accurate knowledge of the Educational conditions and circumstances of every locality within his jurisdiction and bring to the notice of the superior and the Local Educational Authority (if any) any change in these conditions or circumstances which may affect the progress of education;
(4) have an accurate knowledge of the subject taught in the schools under his control and of the different methods adopted in teaching those subjects, and to keep himself informed of changes in such method, except in regard to subjects in which he has not specialised; (5) Inspect and report on schools under his control, in accordance with the Rules and orders in force from time to time and with such other general or special directions as may be given from time to time by his superior;
(6) advise and generally assist Managers, Headmasters, and teachers in all matters relating to school management, organisation, teaching discipline, equipment, library and laboratory facilities accommodation, organisation of extra- curricular activities, and use of holidays, and illustrate the best method of teaching by giving model lessons;
(7) function as a link between school and school disseminating to one the good practice and procedure he has seen in others;
(8) inform, advise and generally assist school managers in all matters relating to applications for recognition or grant;
(9) associate himself with bodies or associations for the advancement of sound education;
(10) check carefully all bills and accounts passing through his hands and prevent all unnecessary or wasteful expenditure of public money;
(11) submit promptly to his superior, or as may be required to such other Officer such returns or informations as may be called for, periodically or otherwise;
(12) administer the rules with firmness, tact, and with impartiality contribute to the solution of difficulties by disinterested and wellinformed judgments, and be accessible to all persons who may have legitimate business to transact with him;
(13) act in any matter herein or otherwise not specified in accordance with the orders of his superior; and
(14) see that there is no overlapping of schools in the area under his jurisdiction and where there is such overlapping suggest through the Local Educational Authority (if any) practical measures having due regard to the circumstances of each case, for remedying the defect.

10. In addition to the duties specified in Rule 9 it shall be the duty of all Educational Officers to assist their superiors when called upon to do so by the latter in the inspection of schools and other institutions under the direct control of those superior officers.

11. The Inspector of Muslim Education shall be responsible for the supervision of instruction in Arabic in all schools. It is his duty to watch the progress of the education of the Muslims in the State in general and to suggest measures for its improvement.

12. In their inspection work, the educational Officers should look upon themselves, above all, as consultants and collaborators whose duty it is to discuss with Headmasters and teachers and Manager their difficulties and problems and to help them in finding satisfactory solutions. It should be realised that the main role of an inspector should be to study the problems of each school and view them comprehensively in the context of educational objectives to formulae suggestions for improvement, and to help the teachers to carry out his advice and recommendations.

13. All arrangements for inspection of schools shall be based on the principle that each school be inspected thoroughly at least once in each school year and visited at other times as frequently as circumstances will permit. The District Educational Officers should also visit as many schools as possible in the direct charge of their subordinate Assistant Educational Officers.

14. The two principle factors which constitute the proper scrutiny of a school shall be inspection and Examination. Inspection means the process of seeing a school at work, during its ordinary routine course, noting the suitability of the building, the sanitary condition; the arrangement and organisation of classes, the furniture and apparatus; how the accounts and registers are kept, order and discipline, the relation between the teachers and the taught, and specially the method of teaching. Examination of pupils (when on inspection) means the process of testing the pupils so as to see if the instruction imparted and the mode of such instruction are sound; whether the teaching and discipline are such as to exert a right influence on the manners, the conduct and character of the pupils and further to see whether faults detected by failure in examinations have been or are being corrected; also to see how far subordinate officers have made suitable reports. Inspection, or at least a part of it, should usually come first and the examination of pupils afterwards. Note:- The Educational Officer may utilize the services of experts in the Department for the inspection of the academic work of the school more especially in respect of subjects in which he is not sufficiently conversant.

15. Seven days’ notice of the date of an annual inspection shall be given by the Educational Officers to the Headmaster of the school concerned with the intimation that work in the school should be carried on in accordance with in the usual routine on the day of inspection so that the Educational Officer may have an opportunity of seeing how the school is managed; the work of the several teachers conducted and the discipline maintained etc.

A notice shall also be sent to the Manager in the case of private schools. The notice shall be accompanied by a blank inspection Report Form in triplicate and shall contain a request that the statistical information required for the inspection Report be entered in the Forms by the day of inspection and that it be ready in the school on that day. In the case of private schools one copy of the blank inspection Report Form may be sent to the manager and two copies to the Headmaster. Previous intimation shall also be given in respect of inspections relating to applications for recognition and grant. No notice of any kind shall be given regarding any other visit by an Educational Officer for inspection.

16. The inspection of a school shall invariably be held in the school premises, and ordinarily on the usual school days, and within the recognized hours of the school work. The registers, records and accounts, may, if or in so far as they do not require to be checked by the presence of the pupils, be examined either previous to the assembly or after the dispersal of the pupils for the day.

17. The annual inspection of a school shall have among its principal objects the following-

(a) ascertain exactly the extent to which the schools complies with the provisions of the Education Act, the Rules under it, and of such Standing Orders, Notices, Circulars, etc, as have been issued in connection therewith.
(b) to test the efficiency of teaching and discipline and of all arrangements made for these purposes;
(c) to assist Managers, Headmasters and teachers with information and advice on all matters connected with the well- being of the schools; and
(d) to ascertain exactly the extent to which the school meets the educational requirements of the locality and the nature of its relationship with other schools in the same locality.

18. Inspections should always be conducted with reference to the remarks and instructions recorded on previous occasions by the Educational Officers concerned. The series of reports on a school will thus constitute a body of consistent and cumulative criticism and will be material assistance in the development of the school.

19. The results of each annual inspection shall be embodied in the inspection report of which the Educational Officers shall prepare three copies. One copy shall be forwarded to the immediate superior officer who shall pass such orders as may be deemed necessary and the other copy shall be forwarded for appropriate action to the Manager in the case of private schools and to the Headmaster in the case of Departmental Schools. The orders if any passed by the Superior Officer shall also be communicated to the Manager/Headmaster.

20. Surprise visits to school shall be conducted by the Educational Officers at least once in a school year in addition to the visits referred to in Rule 13.

The special aim of the surprise visit to schools without previous intimation should be to see the school in its normal condition without special preparation for inspection. During these occasional visits the Educational Officer shall

(i) note the extent to which the defects, if any, observed at the last annual inspection have been removed:
(ii) examine the attendance, admission, progress, and account registers;
(iii) observe the general condition of the school in respect or order, cleanliness, and sanitation;
(iv) note the number of Scheduled Casts, Scheduled Tribes, and Backward Class pupils and
(v) make such other notes or observations as are of importance. The facts noted should be duly communicated to the immediate superior and the Headmaster and the Manager concerned.

The copy of annual inspection report in respect of a departmental primary school shall be submitted by the Asst. Educational Officer to the
(A) Deputy Director of Education
(B) Director of Public Instruction
(C) Accountant General
(D) Dist. Educational Officer
ANSWER: (D) Dist. Educational Officer