Congress slams Tripura Govt over poor show by Vidyajyoti schools in CBSE board exams, calls for free education in schools

The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday alleged poor results in the Vidyajyoti schools and demanded the state government to prevent the purported “business oriented intentions” in the scheme and take initiatives to make the schools free for all students irrespective of their economic situation.

The party urged the government to form a panel led by educationists to discuss how the Vidyajyoti scheme can be made free for all students.

“We are not against Vidyajyoti school project. But we feel that it is creating division among students in society, where students who can pay are allowed to study in these schools,” Congress spokesperson Partha Acharjee told reporters in Agartala.

He alleged the fail percentage surpassed pass percentage in Vidyajyoti schools situated on the outskirts of Agartala and in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas. Quoting media reports, he said a large number of students, in many cases over half of the total student strength, failed to qualify for higher studies.

“If the state government doesn’t take any initiative, we shall go for agitation in future,” he said.

The party spokesperson stated that though they had tried to draw the attention of the government about the poor performance of the Vidyajyoti schools several times in the past, the government viewed it through a political prism.

He also alleged that the Vidyajyothi scheme is mired in some business motives and hence it was projected as part of the political advertisement of the BJP.

“The scheme was started by taking money from the parents which is in violation of Right to Education Act”, he said.

An official in the state education board said that 125 schools, which used to be under the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE), were selected under the Vidyajyoti project with Rs 500-crore investment. Some of these schools used to be among the highest scoring schools of Tripura when under the TBSE’s jurisdiction.

However, the official declined to comment on the poor show by the students of these institutions saying they aren’t under TBSE jurisdiction anymore.

Speaking to reporters this evening, BJP state chief spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said he is aware that the results of the Vidyajyoti project were poor. He added that the state government is taking all steps to examine the results, ensure proper facilities for students to make sure that they pass the betterment examination scheduled to be held in a month or two.

“Vidyajyoti is a new project. We are aware the results were poor – irrespective of the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary level. This is the first batch appearing from Vidyajyoti schools. The school director and concerned officials have started discussions with those in charge of these Vidyajyoti schools. A large section of students from these institutions have got compartmental results. The department is contemplating to see the outcome after these students appear in the betterment examination a month later or so, because if they can pass that exam, the pass rate will increase a lot. The department has ordered to organise special classes for these students in subjects they got compartmental results during the entire summer vacation to ensure that they can pass in the betterment examination,” he said.

Chakraborty also tried to put up defence for the Vidyajyoti schools and many of them had good results like those at Sabroom, Baikhora in South Tripura, Kailashahar in Unakoti district though others had “underwhelming results”. He also said the government is looking into replicating the model of successful schools in the other schools to ensure better results.

“We have come to know that the government would do everything necessary in order to ensure a better future of the students, including infrastructure development, teacher training, teacher recruitment etc in these schools,” the BJP leader said.

The state education board is likey to announce the Class 10 and 12 results by the end of May.