‘Cluster schools’ a ploy to close down 15,000 govt schools, says Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole has said that under the Right to Education Act, it is the duty of the government to start a school and make education available to children in close by areas. “But the government is going against the Act itself. In the name of cluster schools, the government is trying to close down 15,000 schools and thereby cause inconvenience to students living in far-flung areas and tribal pockets,” he added.

Education Commissioner Suraj Mandhre has recently asked officers of the department and zilla parishads to identify schools that can be developed as cluster schools and submit proposals by October 15. The move is meant to deal with the problem of low student counts at schools in remote areas.

Patole said that great educationists of Maharashtra have worked to take education to the doorsteps of the poor and weak. But the latest push for cluster schools is to keep education far away from the poor, the have-nots, the backward and the tribal people, he remarked.

”The government has said that schools which have less than 20 students will be shut down and a cluster school will be set up for them. All these 15,000 schools have a strength of 1.85 lakh students and 29,000 teachers,” Patole stated.

State Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe told The Indian Express that the party will not allow the closure of 15,000 schools.

“The government cannot deprive the poor of a school in their area. There is a problem of accessibility for students living in rural areas. We will next send a letter to the state government not to go ahead with the step. Otherwise, we will stage state-wide protest against the move,” Londhe said.