Mahatma’s school fails the test,cut down to size

Two other government schools in Rajkot district also face the axe. These three are among the 100 schools in the district to face grant cuts because of a below 30 per cent pass rate in the Class X boards.

Rajkot District Education Officer (DEO) K D Bagda said: “The Class X result for Rashtriya Shala in Rajkot,Enfield School in Ghiyawad village of Wankaner taluka,and S B Gardi Jain Vidhyalay in Gondal was nil this year. As such,the secondary section in these schools will be shut down.”

Bagda said the Education Department will formally close the secondary section of Rashtriya Shala as the school had downed shutters on this section two years ago due to lack of fresh admissions.

“For the past two years,only repeaters have been allowed to appear for the boards from this school,and they are very few in number,” he said.

Rashtriya Shala trustee Ushakant Mankand said: “It was only four years ago that we started the secondary section. But for the first two years the number of students in each class never went beyond 15; so the section was closed two years ago. The school could never stand competition from the self-financed ones.”

Bagda added that on Wednesday their office received a letter from the Education Department in Gandhinagar that there will be grant cut in as many as 100 government schools in Rajkot district following a poor show in the board examinations.

“For 100 schools,the pass percentage is less than 30,while for 19 schools the result is even below 10 per cent. These schools will soon face grant cuts,” he said.

Rashtriya Shala was founded in 1921 with an objective to impart education on Gandhian thought. The school is part of a sprawling campus that also includes other Gandhian institutes like Khadi Gram Udhyog,Charkha Centre and a music school.