Dont lose, bring children to schools

BANGALORE: Condemning the State Government’s decision to close down government schools with less than five children, Dr V P Niranjana Aradhya, Fellow, Centre for Child and Law, National Law School India University, said that there is a need to analyse the reasons behind the poor state of government schools in the country. Speaking at a discussion organised by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP), he said that a series of policies adopted by government have an impact on the condition of schools.“If you ask whether it is right to shutdown government schools, I can tell you that the people’s referendum clearly suggests this decision is not right,” he said. Echoing his stand, Treasurer of Kannada Sahitya Parishat Pundaleeka Halambi said that the government has failed in identifying the problem. “Poor enrolment of children in these schools is the fundamental problem. The solution is not in closing down schools, but in bringing more children to schools,” he observed.The speakers believed that the government’s decision to close down schools is a move to open up the education sector to private partners. They demanded a standardised education system where children from all sections of the society can study under one roof. “The government plans to introduce a PPP model for education where the land and basic facilities will be provided by the government while the school will be run by private partners. The poor will not be able to gain access to education if this happens because education will then become a product in the market,” observed Niranjana Aradhya.Halambi and K S Prabha, another speaker, believed that if government schools are closed down, Kannada language is bound to perish. They felt that if the medium of instruction is in the child’s mother tongue, the child will learn better.“There is no discussion on this matter in the Legislative Assembly. Be it the Opposition or the ruling party, there is no constructive analysis of this matter within government circles,” MLA Narendrababu, who also participated the discussion, said.  He felt that there is a need for a middle ground between complete privatisation and complete nationalisation of schools in the country.