After setting up a committee to regulate functioning of private English-medium schools offering ICSE and CBSE courses, the state government is now planning a vigil on schools affiliated with international education boards.

State school education minister Kanti Biswas has held talks with human resources development minister Arjun Singh on the issue. What has prompted the government to mull regulatory measures for international schools coming up in the city is the growing trend among parents ' especially the affluent ones ' to admit their children to such institutions.

At present, only one such school is functioning in the city, Calcutta International School, founded 35 years ago. According to the government, at least two more international schools are coming up.

'We are not opposed to the trend. We understand why parents are so eager to admit their children to schools affiliated with foreign boards. Studying there makes it easy for students to go abroad for advanced courses,' minister Biswas said on Wednesday.

'At the same time,' he added, 'the government must keep a tab on the functioning of all types of schools, irrespective of their affiliations. We need to keep an eye on the facilities they offer, the syllabi they follow, admission and other fees, and the salary scale.'

Biswas said he had requested Union minister Singh to inform the state government whether the Centre had framed any rule for international schools.

Under the existing system, private schools can apply to the ICSE or CBSE board for affiliation only after the state government issues a no-objection certificate.

The certificate is issued after a series of inspections by the state school education department.

But there is no such rule for international schools. They need not take the government's consent before applying for affiliation.

'We don't know exactly how many of the international schools coming up in Calcutta have obtained affiliation. We need to chalk out a plan immediately to have some kind of regulatory measures for these institutions,' said commissioner of school education Ardhendu Sekhar Biswas.