Maharashtra Governor intervenes, shutting down of model schools on hold

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Thereafter, 43 model schools in the state were to be phased out from the current academic year. The government was planning to stop admissions to Class VI and to allow the current batches of Class VII to XII to pass out over the next few years.

In Gadchiroli, there are five model schools, one each in Dhanora, Etapalli, Alapalli, Bhamragarh and Sironcha, having over 400 students. “The parents of the students who wanted admission to the schools had started an agitation because these were the only low-cost English medium schools available to them. The schools had the best of teachers drawn from ZP schools,” said social activist Paromita Goswami of Shramik Elgar. She had led a delegation of parents and students to Mumbai on the invitation of the governor to discuss the issue, after writing to the government requesting intervention. “That the parents and the children want to study in English medium schools is a remarkable aspiration in the state’s most backward districts. So, why should their aspiration not be respected?” Goswami asked.

On Tuesday, Governor Rao heard the delegation and immediately asked the state government to reconsider the decision in favour of the agitating parents and students. “We also met Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar who immediately called a meeting with Gadchiroli MP Ashok Nete, two local MLAs and Principal Secretary of Education Department Nand Kumar and assured that the schools would continue and admissions to standard VI would be done,” Goswami said.

Nand Kumar told The Indian Express that one of the problems with the schools was that the teachers were paid half the salaries that teachers in other schools got. “We will discuss the issue with the Gadchiroli ZP CEO. If they don’t have a problem running the schools, we also have no problem,” he said.