Teachers’ organisations from across state protest against fresh govt schemes
These organisations have been protesting, alleging that "such measures could mark the end of the public education system" which is essential for underprivileged children.
3 min read
In September, the state department of school education rolled out the schemes: 'adoption of schools' — individual donors, corporates or NGOs can now adopt government schools; and 'clusters of schools' — smaller schools will be combined to create a big school.
Teachers’ organisations from across Maharashtra have launched a protest against several fresh measures such as the adoption of schools, combining small schools to create clusters, and hiring teachers on contractual basis — recently announced by the state department of school education.
These organisations have been protesting, alleging that “such measures could mark the end of the public education system” which is essential for underprivileged children.
Maharashtra Rajya Prathamik Shikshak Samiti (MRPSS), a state-wide teachers’ organisation, has appealed to the teachers to join a protest in Wardha on Saturday; with similar stirs scheduled to take place in Amravati and Yavatmal on Sunday.
Teachers’ organisations in Sangli, Kolhapur, Washim, Akola, and Chandrapur have already carried out massive protests against these measures.
In September, the state department of school education rolled out the schemes: ‘adoption of schools’ — individual donors, corporates or NGOs can now adopt government schools; and ‘clusters of schools’ — smaller schools will be combined to create a big school.
The state government’s move to “enhance infrastructure and other facilities” with the implementation of these schemes has been severely criticised by stakeholders from across the education sector.
Pramod Taundkar from teachers’ organisation of Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district — where a protest was held a few days ago — said, “Cluster of schools may look appealing on paper to government officials in urban set up, but, we know the adverse impacts it can cause in inaccessible areas like hills or forests. We have four to five talukas in our district such as Shahuwadi, Radhanagari, Gaganbawda, and Budhargad among others, where girls would drop out of mainstream schooling if the local schools are closed.”
Under the scheme ‘clusters of schools’, those having less than 20 enrolled students are likely to close down. According to Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data, there are 14,783 schools across the state which have less than 20 enrolled students.
“It is a considerable number of schools, and closing them could have adverse effects,” said Vijay Kombe from Wardha, state head of MRPSS. “Most of the families in inaccessible areas live on hand-to-mouth earning wherein the children also have to participate to earn a livelihood. These children, after school hours, sell fruits from the forest to help their parents. Going to a faraway school would not be a feasible option for them.”
Besides ‘cluster of schools’ and ‘adoption of schools’, the ‘contractual hiring of teachers’ scheme is also being opposed by many. On Sunday, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) schools remained open, opposing a ‘cluster of schools’ move there. “For the adoption of schools, the state government depends on CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds. Should not the government take responsibility for the public education system? What happens if a private player decides to stop the funds under the scheme?” questioned a teacher representative from Sangli, requesting anonymity.
As Maharashtra plans contractual employment across sectors, the teachers’ organisations receive active support from different labour unions and other organisations in their protests. “Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced that the decision of contractual employment has been suspended for now. But, it was only a verbal announcement, there is no government resolution (GR) confirming the same,” said another representative.
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