A teachers’ organisation will hold a peaceful torch march on August 1 to draw the attention of the people towards the government’s proposal to shut down night schools and colleges.
A teachers’ organisation will hold a peaceful torch march on August 1 to draw the attention of the people towards the government’s proposal to shut down night schools and colleges. The march will start from Girgaon Chowpatty and culminate at Marine Drive.
The organisation has said the proposal of the government to have night schools through open schooling will prove to be a detriment to the 30,000 students enrolled in these schools as many cannot afford the use of the Internet.
Subhash More, chief convenor of Shikshak Bharati, the teachers’ organisation, said, “In June, education secretary Nand Kumar had said the night schools that provide secondary and higher secondary education to more than 30,000 students all over the state would be replaced with open schooling. However, opposition from various quarters prompted the government to give assurances the night schools would not be closed. However, this year, the education department has cut down the number of teachers under the pretext of teacher-student ratio, which indicates it is a strategy to ring the death knell for night schools.” Responding to the announcement of open schooling, wherein students would be able to study through a web portal, Mr More said, “Open schooling cannot replace the schooling experience and will involve an additional cost the students may not be able to bear.”
An official from education minister Vinod Tawde’s office said, “The organisation is welcome to discuss the issue with us and we will try to resolve the issue in the best interests of the beneficiaries.”
