CBSE SARAS School Data Extraction Bot

This is a Selenium-based Python automation script that extracts data of CBSE-affiliated Senior Secondary Level schools state-wise from the official CBSE SARAS portal and appends it to a Google Spreadsheet.

Website Source The bot extracts data from the official CBSE SARAS (School Affiliation Re-Engineered Automation System) Schools Directory:

URL: https://saras.cbse.gov.in/saras/AffiliatedList/ListOfSchdirReport

It filters only schools with Status = "Senior Secondary Level" (programmatically, after loading the table).

How It Works

1. Hybrid Automation (Manual + Automated):
   • The script opens Chrome and navigates to the SARAS directory page.
   • Manual steps (due to unstable UI on government sites):
     • Click "State wise"
     • Select the desired state (e.g., MADHYA PRADESH)
     • Click "SEARCH"
     • Wait for the table to load fully
   • Press ENTER in the console when ready.
2. Automated steps:
   • Sets the table to show 100 entries per page.
   • Automatically paginates through all pages (clicks "Next" until disabled).
   • Extracts rows where Status contains "Senior Secondary Level".
   • Assigns serial numbers (continues from existing data in the sheet).
   • Appends the cleaned data to your Google Sheet (no overwriting).

Extracted Columns:

• S No (auto-generated)
• AFF NO & School Code
• State & District
• Status
• School_Name & Head_Name
• Address & Website

Features

• Handles pagination automatically across all pages.
• Resumable: If interrupted, re-run – it appends new data and continues serial numbering.
• Safe for re-runs: No data loss or duplication.
• Works behind corporate proxies (SSL fix included).

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Install dependencies:

  pip install selenium webdriver-manager gspread oauth2client

Setup Instructions

1. Google Sheets API Credentials (Service Account JSON) To upload data to Google Sheets, you need a service account key (JSON file).

Steps:

1. Go to Google Cloud Console.
2. Create a new project (or select an existing one).
3. Enable the Google Sheets API and Google Drive API(search in "APIs & Services > Library").
4. Go to APIs & Services > Credentials.
5. Click Create Credentials > Service Account.
6. Fill in a name (e.g., "cbse-sheets-bot") and click Create and Continue.
7. (Optional) Grant roles if needed, then Done.
8. Click on the created service account > Keys tab > Add Key > Create new key.
9. Select JSON and click Create – the file downloads automatically.
10. Rename it to credentials.json (or update the filename in the code) and place it in the script folder.

Important:

• Open your Google Spreadsheet.
• Share it with the service account email (found in the JSON file as "client_email", e.g., your-bot@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com) and give Editor access.

2. Configure the Script Edit these variables in the code:

STATE_NAME = "MADHYA PRADESH"             # State you will select manually on the site
STATE_SHEET_NAME = "Madhya Pradesh"       # Exact tab name in your Google Sheet (case-sensitive!)
SPREADSHEET_ID = "your-spreadsheet-id-here"  # From the Google Sheet URL
CREDENTIALS_FILE = "credentials.json"   # Your JSON file name

• Create separate tabs in your Google Sheet for each state (e.g., "Madhya Pradesh", "Punjab", etc.).
• Header row should be: S no | AFF NO & School Code | State & District | Status | School_Name & Head_Name | Address & Website

3. Run the Script

python bot.py   # or whatever your filename is

• Follow the manual steps when prompted.
• Press ENTER when the table loads.
• The bot will extract all pages and append to the sheet.

Notes

• Government sites can be slow – the script includes waits for stability.
• If behind a corporate firewall/proxy, the SSL bypass is already included.
• For a new state: Change STATE_NAME and STATE_SHEET_NAME, ensure the tab exists, and run.

Disclaimer This tool is for educational/research purposes. Respect the website's terms and avoid excessive requests.

Enjoy automated CBSE school data collection! 🚀

If you encounter issues, check console output or open an issue on this repo.