In a recent proceeding, the Maharashtra state government has cleared a bill in the assembly on Wednesday night which now allows private companies to open schools in Maharashtra. This action from the government comes right after the decision taken to shut down 4093 schools, which had 10 or fewer students. According to me, this is by far the most ridiculous decision a government can take.
The primary objective of the government is to improve and maintain the quality of education. Contrarily, the state government is shedding away all the responsibility from its education department to private companies. This is a sign of concern that puts question marks on the priorities of the state government. In this case, I have a few questions to ask the state government and school education minister Vinod Tawde.
1. What will be the role of the education department after shutting down 4093 schools and giving clearance to private companies to build their business models in the education sector?
2. Is it not the state governments’ responsibility to make sure every student gets his Right to Education?
3. If so many government schools are being shut down, who will assist poor children to pay their private school fees?
4. What steps are taken to accommodate all the students that are affected by your decision of shutting down 4093 schools?
5. Does the state government have any record of students affected by this decision of yours?
The school education minister Vinod Tawade has assured that there will be no compromise in the quality of education and these schools will purely be based on ‘no profit-no-loss’ basis. I wonder, which private firm aims towards zero profit! We all know that the government has only compromised and has done nothing to establish a strong education system. As per me, the decision by the state government is nothing but clearly, a business model that is being set to help private companies make profit. On a side note, we are all aware how the political and business nexus runs in India. The hurry the state government showed to shut down schools just before this decision of allowing more private companies in education sector clearly shows us the intention of the government.
In my open letter to CM Devendra Fadnavis ji, I had requested to take back this harsh decision, but I instead got to know that they have paved way to build business models to help private companies. Being an educational and social activist, I protest this rough decision taken by the government in favour of private companies keeping aside the rights and interests of a poor student. The duty of the government is to consider the last person while making any decision, but it is clear that the Devendra Fadnavis government has not only ignored the last student but also never thought of considering even 1 student while making this future paralysing decision.
To conclude, I would like to request the state government once again to rethink on this decision and the risk factors they have ignored to make some private firms happy. “Let’s Make Education and not Break Education” is what I always say and I hope that government takes into consideration this article by me.
Thank You,
Nihal Kirnalli
Educational and Social Activist.
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