Principals fear closure with circular on headcount of staff,students

In the last week of June,the state Education Department had issued a circular through the District Education Officers (DEOs) of each district,asking them about the number of students in each class,the number of classrooms,and the number of teachers,peon and clerks per class in each school.

According to an old Government Resolution (GR),a classroom should have a minimum of 23 students and a maximum of 55,before it gets permission to start another class. But the new policy states every classroom to have a minimum of 33 students and a maximum of 60.

N D Jadeja,the president of Gujarat State Principal Association,said a whopping 30 per cent of the total 7,000-odd grant-in-aid and granted schools in Gujarat might be affected by the new policy.

He said: It is difficult for the schools in the rural areas to get so many students. The Education Department has not given any plan of action to manage the students,if the schools shut down.”

Fearing closure,Gujarat School Management Association (GSMA) members met Education Minister Ramanlal Vora on July 1 to discuss the matter.

GSMA president Naran Patel said while Vora has assured them that the schools will not close down,the problem of managing surplus teachers of Class VIII in the rural secondary schools will remain a problem.

“The authorities have said that the surplus teachers of Class VIII in rural schools will be transferred to other schools in the state. But the problem of students’ strength in other secondary and higher secondary schools remains pending. The exact situation will be known only after July 15,” he said.

Jadeja added: “Earlier too,the state government wanted to close down the schools considering the number of students in each classroom. But the move was strongly opposed. Regretfully,this time even the Opposition has supported the initiative,without caring where the students in the secondary and HSC schools in the rural areas will go if the classrooms are reduced.”

Hasmukh Adhia,Principal Secretary,Gujarat Education Department,said: “The Department does not want to close the schools. School authorities are not understanding the issue properly. It is just a procedure. The Department has sought details from the respective DEOs from each district.”

Vora said,there is a democratic way of evaluating every step taken undertaken by the government. He added: “GSMA members met us and we have considered their plea. We will analyse the data,bring every representative on a dais,seek their inputs and then take a decision.”