Page 30 - EW November 2023

Education News

MAHARASHTRA THEY SAID IT
Teacher power "India's work productivity is one of the

lowest in the world... So therefore, my
scheme under which corporates, individuals and vol- request is that our youngsters must say,
untary organisations (NGOs) have been permitted 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours
to
A ‘adopt’ government schools to improve infra- a week.' You know, this is exactly what the
structure and education quality, has provoked widespread
protests from government school teachers statewide. Germans and Japanese did after the Second
On September 18, the BJP-Shiv Sena government of the World War; they made sure that every
state announced the scheme under which philanthropists, German worked extra hours for a certain
corporates and NGOs can provide goods and services for a number of years.”
defined period of five or ten years to a government school N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Technologies
of their choice. Cash contributions are prohibited and the (WION News, October 27)
school’s name can be changed temporarily, but has to be
restored after the contract period ends. “Some people oppose NEP 2020. I don't see
A GR (government resolution) issued by the School why anyone should oppose NEP 2020, which
Education Department of the education ministry states is hailed as one of the best visions we have
that the ‘Adopted School Scheme’ will be applicable to gov- set for our country. For academic reasons,
ernment schools of all mediums run by the state and local
governments. The objective of this scheme is “to develop if you oppose NEP 2020, there have been
a system for repair, maintenance, and painting of school several occasions where your input could
buildings, to help raise the quality and standard of the edu- have been given."
cation system in Maharashtra, to spread education far and Prof. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, chairman, University
wide by increasing student enrolment, and to match the Grants Commission (UGC), on NEP 2020 (NDTV,
necessary resources for spreading quality education far and October 30)
wide. Along with quality
education, health, hygiene, “Grave human rights violations against
use of modern technology, children are mounting by the minute in the
sports skills, etc, will be Gaza Strip, and there are no winners in a war
the objectives of the school where thousands of children are killed... The
adoption scheme.” Committee calls for an end to the devastating
“Despite spending the harm being wreaked on children’s lives in
largest share of the state the occupied Palestinian Territory. ”
budget on education, the UN Child Rights Committee on the Israel-Hamas war
infrastructure of govern- (Livemint, November 2)
ment schools is under-pro-
visioned merely because of “Thinking that reducing prosperity or growth
scale. Maharashtra sup- Suraj Mandhare in a sector in one part of the country will
ports 65,000 government
schools with an aggregate enrolment of 22.5 million chil- enable development in another is foolish.”
dren mentored by 7.4 lakh teachers, one of the largest Mihir S. Sharma, economist, on a recent National
primary-secondary school systems countrywide. Since we Medical Commission directive prohibiting promotion
value our teachers, the most significant part of the state’s of medical colleges in 'surplus' states (Business
Standard, November 4)
education budget is absorbed by teachers salaries and
allowances and leaves minimal funds for infrastructure
development. This scheme will offer an opportunity to “Not my own creation: this is going around
all well-meaning citizens to contribute towards the devel- @whatsApp as exasperated Delhiites choke
opment of K-12 education statewide,” says Suraj Mand- and splutter under an AQI of 462, nearly 19
hare, commissioner of education in the state government. times the @who safe limit of 25. As someone
However, several teachers’ oganisations have taken um- remarked, ‘no wonder the government has
brage against this initiative alleging that it could mark the renamed the main road the Martavya Path’!”
end of the public education system. The Maharashtra Rajya Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP, taking a dig at the
Prathamik Shikshak Samiti (MRPSS), a statewide teach- government's response to high pollution levels in
ers’ organisation, has staged protests in Wardha, Amra- Delhi (twitter, November 5)

30 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2023