Opposition to govt’s new schemes for school education from interiors of Maharashtra

Stating that government is encouraging privatisation of education, Santosh Naga Thakur, president of Gram Sanwardhan Samajik Sanstha, actively working for tribals in Raigad district, shared how many tribal settlements in the state already do not have schools. “This should change by bringing government schools to each village, to ensure every child gets education. But with the adoption of schools, the government is instead bringing private entities into the government-school systems, encouraging privatisation in education,” Thakur said.

While organisations plan to create awareness among people across the state how these decisions are detrimental, Thakur shared that they are going to run a campaign of no voting if there is no school.

Santosh Ghate from Raigad district Dhangar Samaj Sanghatana, which works for people from Dhangar community, who fall under Nomadic Tribe category, said, “Each village should have a school, not one school for multiple villages, so that no child is denied education. Children from inaccessible areas are already travelling kilometres daily to attend school in nearby villages, it should not go farther away to become part of a cluster.”

With the amendment to RTE rule in the state, private schools having a government school within one-kilometre area should not have to participate in RTE admissions. Under the scheme of cluster of schools, state plans to identify schools having less enrolment and combine them in clusters to provide better facilities. Whereas in the adoption of schools, the state has invited private organisations or individuals to adopt schools to provide better infrastructural facilities.