PCMC’s Marathi medium schools set for makeover

Former teachers and principals too say serious school education has come last on the PCMC agenda. Jayshree Marale,who retired as the principal of a PCMC school,said the civic administration has been apathetic towards maintaining its schools and infrastructure in good condition.

However,the situation will soon change,said municipal commissioner Asheesh Sharma. The civic chief had announced that Rs 19 crore for a major infrastructure overhaul of PCMC schools. Though the authorities were quick to scale down the budget by Rs 2 crore,the Sharma administration is keen on giving a complete makeover to the civic school environment. “Students of PCMC-run schools should be on par with other private schools. A student from PCMC should not be looked down upon. This will only happen when we provide good infrastructure,which will ultimately help in imparting quality education,” said Sharma.

PCMC runs 152 Marathi medium schools of which 18 schools are secondary. There are around 50,000 primary school students and 10,000 secondary school students. For years,the number of schools run by the civic body has remained the same.

“There has no new demand,” says education officer Vishnu Jadhav. He said the administration’s plan to overhaul the infrastructure would improve the education environment in civic schools.

Jadhav said the PCMC does not run an English medium school. “There has been one proposal to start an English medium school. But things have not moved forward,” he said.