Yashwantrao Chavan Centre Supports Protest Against Maharashtra Govt's Proposed School Closure Policy

Mumbai: The Yashwantrao Chavan Centre has lent its backing to the Shikshan Vikas Manch’s protest against Maharashtra’s plan to shut down Zilla Parishad and aided schools. In a letter to the School Education Department’s committee examining the matter, Dr Basavraj Kalyanshetti, the Shikshan Vikas Manch’s chief coordinator, expressed alarm over the proposed closures, citing worries about education accessibility, social equity, and the future of children from financially disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

The letter contends that government and aided schools are more than mere academic institutions; they serve as vital public spaces that uphold social equality, equal opportunities, and democratic principles. These institutions are vital in furnishing education to pupils from rural and urban zones, especially those belonging to Dalit, Bahujan, nomadic, denotified, minority communities, and farming families.

Addressing the rationale behind school closures due to low enrollment, the centre argued that the government should initially tackle the lack of fundamental amenities and enhance the quality of education. It highlighted that numerous schools continue operating despite a shortage of classrooms, toilets, playgrounds, and drinking water facilities.

Shutting down these schools without rectifying these shortcomings could deny children access to education in their localities, as the Right to Education Act, 2009, stresses neighbourhood schooling as a fundamental tenet.

The centre has implored the government to engage teachers, parents, education experts, local self-governance bodies, public health entities, and other stakeholders in consultations prior to making decisions impacting schools. It also solicited concrete steps to enhance infrastructure, hire teachers, and ensure that every child receives quality education in the vicinity of their home.

The ongoing agitation, launched to shield schools and secure the right to education for children across all societal strata, has been encouraged to garner public support. The centre urged the state government to take the movement seriously, reconsider its school-closure decision, and devise a thorough strategy to fortify government and aided schools throughout Maharashtra.