Pune: The state unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has offered to buy an airplane ticket for cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil to travel from Pune to Punjab to see the developed municipal schools in the northern state after the politician remarked about the poor quality of civic educational institutes recently.Speaking to reporters during a programme in Pimpri Chinchwad recently, Patil had said, “Parents want private schools. If a private education institute comes forward to run civic schools, we will consider it under terms and conditions. Some govt schools have developed remarkably. However, the improvement of civic education is not happening overall on a large scale.”The AAP party members also said the Punjab govt and the earlier Delhi govt under AAP had completely transformed thousands of civic schools. In NITI Aayog’s national survey, Punjab’s govt schools ranked first in the country. During the AAP govt’s tenure in Delhi, over 3,00,000 students left private schools to enroll in municipal ones. The education reform model has been globally acclaimed by experts, they added.They said the minister should go and see the success himself, instead of promoting privatisation of municipal schools in Maharashtra.Educational experts said leaders and authorities should try to improve the govt education system, rather than privatising them. Steps such as providing an adequate budget and trained manpower are essential to level up civic education.AAP member Abhijit More said, “Govt schools sould not be handed over to private parties. The administration should focus on strengthening the civic school infrastructure instead.”TOI tried to contact Patil, but he was not available for comment. His office-bearer said, “He would not like to speak on the matter. Also, he is occupied in the state assembly session, currently.”The BJP-led standing committee in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has approved a proposal to hand over five govt schools to a private organisation. The PMC will also dole out funds to the organisation, which will receive Rs25,000 per student per year. The civic annual expenditure would amount to Rs11.3 crore based on an estimated 4,500 students.Expert SpeakMany govt schools in Maharashtra outperform private ones because of committed teachers and strong community participation, proving that public institutes can deliver quality education when supported. Privatisation is the easiest way to avoid addressing the real issues. What education needs is higher budgetary allocation, better teacher recruitment, improved infrastructure and greater public participation. Measures such as cluster schools may work in some areas, but no policy should be applied uniformly. Solutions must be tailored to the needs of individual schools and communities.– Dinkar Temkar, former director of primary education and former director of SCERTWe strongly oppose the minister’s statement that govt schools provide poor-quality education. On what basis was the conclusion made? Govt schools are regularly inspected and monitored, but has the state conducted a similar assessment of private schools? If the state wants better educational outcome, it must first provide adequate teachers and infrastructure. How can a single teacher handling multiple subjects across several classes be expected to deliver quality education? Civic schools serve the poorest and most vulnerable sections of the society. Privatisation will make education more expensive and less accessible. It is unfair to underfund public education and then blame schools for poor quality. The state should strengthen public schools, not weaken them.-Vijay Kombe, state president of the Maharashtra State Primary Teachers CommitteeThe Constitution and the Right to Education Act (RTE) place the responsibility of providing education on the state, which the latter is shirking. Instead of strengthening public schools, the state is moving towards privatisation. Private managements are ultimately driven by financial considerations. There is little incentive for them to prioritise the needs of poor students in rural areas. The Centre and the state allocate a relatively small share of budget to education. Before blaming govt schools for poor outcomes, investment in education must be increased, adequate teachers and infrastructure provided and there should be work to improve quality.-Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for Maharashtra School Principals’ FederationThe idea of entrusting some schools to local private managements could be explored on a pilot basis within the constitutional framework, without violating RTE norms or absolving the state of its responsibility towards education. However, it should be done only with clear safeguards to ensure that it remains a non-profit initiative and that access, equity and quality of education are not compromised. Maharashtra has a legacy of govt-aided and privately managed schools that led to the substantial spread of secondary education. The tradition must be continued under the safeguards.-Kishore Kumar Darak, educationist
