Page 14 - Education World July 2020

Education News

which also conducts the annual Edu- expense incurred for edu-
cationWorld India Higher Education cating students admitted
Rankings. under s.12 (1) (c) by paying
For the EWIHER Rankings 2020- them the equivalent of per-
21, C fore field personnel interviewed child expense it incurs in
16,054 sample respondents compris- its own state schools. In the
ing vice chancellors, faculty, industry circumstances, BPS which
leaders and senior students. don’t have the wherewithal
Autar Nehru (Delhi) to switch to digital online
learning, are in no condition
MAHARASHTRA to continue paying teachers
Cloudy outlook and staff salaries.
Meanwhile, teachers of
7,000 schools dispensing
AHARASHTRA’S TEACHERS’ com- Gaikwad: protest letters flood education in vernacular lan-
munity has become the un- guages including Marathi,
Msuspecting casualty of the the emoluments of 80,000 teachers Hindi and Urdu to 1.5 million stu-
state’s messy post Covid-19 lockdown and support staff. In a letter to the dents in rural Maharashtra unserved
education system. Scores of preschool state’s education minister V ars ha by government schools, have also been
to higher secondary private school Gaikw ad, several budget private left high and dry. Charging fees as low
teachers have lost their jobs with school associations — the Maharash- as Rs.1,000-5,000 per annum, these
school managements citing financial tra English School Trustees Asso- schools were promised “100 percent
inability to make even partial payment ciation (MESTA, estb.2014), Private grant” in 2009. But with subsequent
of salaries because parents haven’t Unaided School Managements Asso- governments changing eligibility
paid children’s school fees for the past ciation (PUSMA, 2000), Independent rules and policies, only 399 of these
four months. English Schools Association (IESA, primary-secondaries have received
The state government’s confusing 2014), and the Unaided Schools Fo- the grants promised to them for the
notifications and GRs (government rum (USF, 1980) — have stated that period 2012-16 after which the grant
resolutions) issued since the lockdown nearly 40 percent of their member amount has been reduced to 20 per-
began in mid-March, are to a great ex- schools are unable to comply with cent of expenses per annum.
tent to blame for their predicament. the government’s June 15 directive Teachers of unaided schools across
Even as private schools were yet to to provide online education to classes “rural Maharashtra have participat-
collect fees for the April-July quarter, III-XII due to financial difficulties. ed in 300 protest marches over the
a May 8 GR warned private school For managements of private unaid- years but they have made no impact
managements of stern action if they ed (independent) — especially budget in the education ministry in Mumbai.
compel parents to pay pending dues or private schools — which are being For years, we have been paid just Rs.
make payment of admission and term exhorted to continue paying teachers 7,000-10,000 per month — way below
fees for the academic year 2020-21 a and staff without getting any mention the scales prescribed by the Seventh
precondition of admission. in the MSMEs (medium, small and Pay Commission and what govern-
Moreover, another government cir- micro enterprises) stimulus package ment school teachers are paid. At least
cular (June 15) banned online teach- announced by finance minister Nir- 20 teachers have lost their lives due to
ing for pre-primary-class II children mala Sitharaman in May, the most mental and financial stress since the
and reopening of preschools until the unkindest cut is that the state govern- lockdown. We urge the government to
end of 2020. The government’s circu- ment has shown no signs of paying up release the funds due to us and save
lar effectively made 9,000 preschools the Rs.700 crore it owes them for the the lives of teachers,” says Shub -
across the state and the teachers em- academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19 hang i Patil, president, Maharashtra
ployed in them, redundant until the as compensation for admitting poor Teachers Association.
end of this year. children in their neighbourhoods and On June 25, admitting four peti-
With a large number of private pri- providing them free-of-charge educa- tions filed before it, the Bombay high
mary-secondaries laying off contrac- tion in primary/elementary (classes court stayed the state government’s
tual teachers in the past three months I-VIII) under s.12 (1) (c) of the Right May 8 order regarding fees collection
to reduce expenditure, managements of Children to Free and Compulsory and increases for 2020-21 as well as all
of the state’s 22,477 budget private Education (RTE) Act, 2009. S.12 (2) compliance communications from the
schools (BPS) have been crying foul obliges state governments to reim- education ministry to schools until the
since May, about being unable to pay burse private unaided schools the next hearing slated for August. While

14 EDUCATIONWORLD JULY 2020