Form strategy to improve govt school education, HRD Ministry tells Maharashtra
With Marathi-medium schools failing to attract kids, the schools are facing the inevitable conclusion — shutdown.
With an aim to improve the government school
system in Maharashtra, the Human Resource Development Ministry has directed the
state government to form a strategy to address the shift of enrollment from
government schools to private ones. Union officials also pointed out the
enrollment shift from Marathi to English medium schools. According to the
Project Approval Board (PAB) 2016-17 meeting, there was an increase of
enrollment in English medium schools by 2,65,478 in 2015-16 as compared to
2014-15. At the same time the Marathi medium schools have witnessed a decline
in enrollment by 24,228 in 2015-16 as compared to 2014-15.
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Despite indications from the state government that government schools
are improving, the MHRD’s direction is in the list of Agenda for the state government
for the academic year 2016-17 and thereafter. (Representational)
With an aim to improve the government school
system in Maharashtra, the Human Resource Development Ministry has directed the
state government to form a strategy to address the shift of enrollment from
government schools to private ones. Union officials also pointed out the
enrollment shift from Marathi to English medium schools. According to the
Project Approval Board (PAB) 2016-17 meeting, there was an increase of
enrollment in English medium schools by 2,65,478 in 2015-16 as compared to
2014-15. At the same time the Marathi medium schools have witnessed a decline
in enrollment by 24,228 in 2015-16 as compared to 2014-15.
Watch what else is making news
According to the latest state government
statistics, over 4,000 children have switched from private schools to
government ones this year so far. The top five districts witnessing such
migration are Ahmednagar (256), Satara (197), Latur (146), Bhandardara (118)
and Thane (48). The switch is happening in all classes. Even though the shift
started a couple of years ago, the government started compiling data only this
year. Mumbai is not included as schools here are under the municipal
corporation.
Despite indications from the state government
that government schools are improving, the MHRD’s direction is in the list of
Agenda for the state government for the academic year 2016-17 and thereafter.
“The government run schools are running in all fronts. The state government is
already working towards improving the scenario of government education. We are
looking towards bringing in a major transformation within the next three years.
Due to the previous government, a large number of private institutions came up
and no attention was given to upgrading existing government institutions,” said
a senior official of the school education department.
The situation in Mumbai
Marathi-medium schools have been bearing the
brunt when it comes to the enrollment of students. A whopping 38 per cent
decline in enrollment was registered in the last five years in government-run
schools. The plight of civic-run Marathi-medium schools in the city is even
worse.The student crunch forced the civic body to shut down or merge 34 schools
in Mumbai. In 2010, there were 413 Marathi medium schools run by the BMC. The
number has declined to 369 till 2015, according to the BMC. In the same period,
Gujarati-medium schools faced a 41 per cent decline and enrollments in Tamil,
Telugu and Kannada-medium schools declined by 43 per cent, 50 per cent and 36
per cent respectively.
With Marathi-medium schools failing to
attract kids, the schools are facing the inevitable conclusion — shutdown. The
decline in enrollments has crossed a demoralizing 60 per cent mark. More than
30,000 students have dropped out of civic schools in the past five years,
according to a report by Praja Foundation, an NGO. This is despite the fact
that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has a mid-day meal plan and
charges very low fees in its schools. Principal Secretary of School Education
Nand Kumar could not be reached for comment.
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
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