New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS): Schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will now have to get accreditation from 12 private agencies that the board has empanelled, an official said Monday.

"The 12 agencies have been empanelled by the Board on the basis of a request for proposal, and after fulfilling several terms and conditions put forward by the Board," Rama Sharma, CBSE's chief public relation officer told IANS.

The accreditation is compulsory for all CBSE schools in India and abroad. Earlier, there was only a process of voluntary accreditation handled by the state-run Quality Council of India (QCI).

The accreditation will be awarded once the schools meet the domains of infrastrucutre, innovation, academics and others.

Sharma said that the board would closely monitor and preview the report of each agency before giving accreditation.

"The board has taken this decision purely to surge the quality of education and sustaining it," she said.

The schools will have to pay an accreditation fee of Rs.15,000, which will be renewed every three years.

CBSE is the board of education for public and private schools and conducts final examinations for Class 10 and 12. It also annually conducts the All India Engineering Examination (AIEEE) and All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) exam for admission to undergraduate courses in engineering, architecture and medical colleges respectively.