Page 18 - EducationWorld May 2022

Education News

ised sector working class households. is mandated to pay private
Unlike government schools which schools the per-pupil cost it
tend to be English language averse, incurs in government prima-
they offer English-medium education ry/elementary (classes I-VIII)
at affordable price. While per-stu- schools.
dent expenditure in government-run In a letter dated April 11 to
schools is Rs.60,000 per annum, chief minister Uddhav Thac-
budget private schools provide keray, IESA says: “We strongly
primary-secondary education with feel that a dedicated depart-
better learning outcomes for as little ment headed by a private
as Rs.25,000-30,000 per year. schools education minister be
With BPS dispensing better qual- appointed who will focus on
ity education, better infrastructure, the growth and development
academic rigour, extra-curricular of this very important sector
activities, state board curriculum, IESA’s Rajendra Singh: contradictory policies of schooling… Private schools
digital and IT-enabled campuses — must have their own mentor
mainly by keeping teachers’ salaries principals are threatened with police and guide so that due justice is ac-
low — state government schools action and first information reports corded to their functioning.”
which pay high salaries but are no- (FIRs) filed against them for asking That IESA’s demand will be met
torious for crumbling infrastructure, for fees which is our legal right. seems doubtful since the clear intent
and for sub-nationalist reasons pre- The government announces poli- of the government is to force the
fer to teach in the state’s dominant cies that are contrary to law to suit closure of as many BPS as possible, a
language, have been experiencing a parents and students, and doesn’t self-wounding project in which gull-
steady exodus of students, despite let schools demand their fees. This ible parents are complicit.
providing a free mid-day meal. has placed school education and Dipta Joshi (Mumbai)
he steady rise of budget private the future of students in danger.
Tschools has not gone down well As a result of these contradictory ODISHA
with the state government which policies of the education ministry,
seldom dispels populist perception 1,200 private budget schools in the Unlikely success
that private schools are run by profi- state were forced to close leaving the
teers and are loaded with ‘donations’ educational future of thousands of story
extorted in admission season. The students in jeopardy. There is a need
mutually antagonistic relationship to re-think the impact of such vote- MONG INDIA’S 28 STATES, THE
between BPS and government wors- bank pleasing policies. The ministry eastern seaboard state of Odi-
ened during the almost two years needs to stop threatening us with Asha, formerly Orissa (pop.46.3
of officially mandated closure of derecognition each time we ask for million), is an outlier. Unlike other
schools during the Covid pandemic recalibration of tuition fees, and even states of the Indian Union in which
when the revenue streams of BPS when we demand payment of dues political action is fast and furious,
dried up. for students admitted under s.12 (1) Odisha has enjoyed political stability
Although during the lockdown, a (c) of the RTE Act, 2009, which have and orderly governance under the rul-
substantial number of BPS switched accumulated to Rs.900 crore. Had ing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by
to online education, many parents the government made timely s.12 (1) Doon School and St. Stephen’s College
refused to pay tuition fees on gov- (c) reimbursements, the number of educated chief minister Naveen Pat-
ernment instigation. During the lock- schools forced to shut down would naik, now in his fifth term in office.
down, the state government issued have been less,” says Rajendra As a result, the annual state gross
circulars directing private schools Singh, president, IEAS. domestic product (SGDP) has grown
not to expel any student for non- Under s.12 (1) (c) of the Right by an impressive 10.1 percent per year
payment of fees, and directed private of Children to Free & Compulsory and the state, once infamous for hun-
school managements to charge only Education (RTE) Act, 2009, all pri- ger deaths in its hinterland, has made
50 percent of contracted fees if they vate schools — including BPS — are impressive progress in eliminating
provided online education. obliged to reserve 25 percent capac- extreme poverty and raising the liv-
“We are disappointed by the ity in classes I-VIII for poor children ing standards of its hitherto neglected
apathy of the education ministry in their neighbourhood and provide large tribal population in particular.
despite our major contribution to them free-of-charge education. In education as well, with the active
the education sector. Private school Under s.12 (2), the state government encouragement of the BJD govern-

18 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2022