“Of the total primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra, 1,681 schools have been deemed eligible for grants and will be given grants in phases,” said Vinod Tawde, School education minister. School managements, which were petitioning the government to remove the word ‘permanently unaided’ from private schools, were relieved after the state government announced that 1,681 primary and secondary schools were deemed eligible for grant-in-aid. The decision to provide grant to these schools came on Tuesday, following a series of protests by school teachers and principals for several years. The decision means that thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff working in these schools will get their salaries directly from the state government. Last month, several teachers under the banner of the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals’ Association (MSSHSSPA) had boycotted assessment duty of state board answersheets to protest against the government’s decision to make those schools ineligible for government grants that had been approved for the grants previously. According to the association, the reports submitted by the committees set up to re-inspect schools shortlisted for grants were against the interests of these schools. Hence, they had demanded that the government should discard these reports and start issuing grants on the basis of the previous report. The state government had stopped granting permission for aided schools or extra divisions in existing schools in 2001 and announced that all schools and additional divisions allotted thereafter would not get any grant. Around 2,000 secondary and 2,000 primary schools were allowed between 2001 and 2009 after they signed agreements that they will never approach the state government for aid. But from 2009, these schools started pressuring the state government to bring them on par with aided schools and sanction salary grants to them. Hence, in February, based on the state government’s decision of the year 2011 and 2013, the state agreed to provide financial assistance to those permanently unaided private schools and unaided private schools in the state that fulfilled the criteria put forth by the state government and were graded accordingly. The government, however, agreed to provide grants to only 162 schools, inviting the wrath of the school managements, teachers and principals. Following the decision on Tuesday, school education minister Vinod Tawde tweeted, “Of the total primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra, 1,681 schools have been deemed eligible for grants and will be given grants in phases.” “The teachers wanted a written order from the government assuring their schools will be made eligible to receive grants. We did all that was necessary to fulfil the criterion that were stipulated by the state government. We never asked them to provide grants to those who have not been following the government’s rules. We are happy that the government has finally made the announcement and we hope that this does not just remain on paper,” said Prashant Redij, member of the Association. dipti.singh@expressindia.com
