New Delhi (PTI): In a crackdown on 'dummy' admissions, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday withdrew affiliation of 21 schools and downgraded six schools from senior secondary to secondary level, officials said.

The move comes following a surprise inspection at the schools in Rajasthan and Delhi in September during which several lapses were found, they said.

"The practice of dummy or non-attending admissions contradicts the core mission of school education, compromising students' foundational growth. To address this issue, we are taking a decisive action to combat the proliferation of dummy schools and send a clear message to all affiliated institutions to resist the lure of accepting dummy or non-attending admissions," CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta said.

He said the vital observations of the surprise inspection committees regarding the irregularities observed during the inspections were communicated as a report to the respective schools.

Gupta said the prime objective of the inspections was to ascertain that the schools were operating in compliance with the norms of regular attendance of students in schools according to the affiliation and examination bylaws of the Board. The CBSE emphasised that dummy or non-attending schools undermine educational integrity and issued show cause notices, allowing schools 30 days to respond, he said.

"The replies submitted by the schools were examined in detail by the Board. Based on the inspection findings and supported by videographic evidence, affiliation of 21 schools was withdrawn and six schools were downgraded from senior secondary to secondary level," he added.

Of the 21 schools whose affiliation has been withdrawn, 16 are in Delhi while five of them are in Rajasthan's coaching hubs -- Kota and Sikar.

Scores of students preparing for engineering and medical entrance examinations prefer to take admission in dummy schools so that they can focus solely on their preparations for the competitive exams. They do not attend classes and straightaway appear in the board exams.

Aspirants also choose dummy schools, keeping in mind the quota in medical and engineering institutes available for students from certain states. For example, candidates who have completed classes 11 and 12 in Delhi are considered for admission in engineering and medical colleges of the national capital under the Delhi state quota.

Earlier this year, the CBSE cancelled the affiliation of 20 schools for enrolling dummy students and ineligible candidates.

The disaffiliated schools in Delhi are Khemo Devi Public School and The Vivekanand School in Narela; Sant Gyaneshwar Model School, Alipur; P D Model Secondary School, Sultanpuri Road; Sidhhartha Public School, Kanjhawla; Rahul Public School, Rajiv Nagar Extension; Bharti Vidya Niketan Public School, Chander Vihar; R.D. International School, Baprola; Heera Lal Public School , Madanpur Dabas; B.R. International School, Mungeshpur; KRD International School, Dhansa Road and MR Bharti Model Senior Secondary School, Mundka.

Three schools in Delhi's Nangloi -- USM Public Secondary School, SGN Public School and M D Memorial Public School -- have also lost their affiliation.

The schools whose affiliation has been downgraded are Adarsh Jain Dharmic Shiksha Sadan, BS International School, Bharat Mata Saraswati Bal Mandir, Ch Baldev Singh Model School, Dhruva Public School and Naveen Public School. All of these schools are in Delhi.