Ranchi MP Ram Tahal Choudhary believes that closing down of school is not a logical move and tells Mukesh Ranjan that the state government should have sought people’s opinion before taking such a decision.
What is your view about the large number of schools being closed down under the ongoing drive of merging primary and middle schools?
The decision taken by the state government is not logical as closing down of schools in rural areas will have a far-reaching affect. It will hit the image of the BJP government. The state government must have taken opinion from leaders and workers in the field before taking such a decision. Closing down the schools will be an unpopular move and will leave several villages without any school, depriving the children of primary education.
But officials claim the decision was taken in order to optimise the resources, looking at the shortage of students as well as teachers in those schools.
Those schools were opened during former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan so that children living in remote and hilly areas could get an opportunity to excel in their lives. If there is a shortage of teachers, the government must take steps to increase their number instead of closing down the schools.
What do you think should have actually been done?
The government should first increase the number of teachers in those schools and give them at least a year’s time and then take a decision after consulting the local representatives of the villages. Closing down the schools is not rational. If you want to promote education, you will have to take far-reaching decisions. There must be at least three teachers in each primary school, 7-8 in middle school and more than 10 in high schools. Then only the quality of education can be improved in government schools.
Officials claim that only those schools have been closed down where just 10-12 students were enrolled as parents send their children to private schools.
If the government will provide better facilities, nobody will like to send their children to private schools. There are several states where people prefer government schools over private ones because they provide better facilities.
All the BJP MPs from the state, including you, have written to CM Raghubar Das. What is your demand and what prompted you to write the letter?
As we keep on travelling in our constituencies, we felt the ongoing drive to merge schools is causing resentment among people, which is denting the state government’s image. Hence, a joint letter was written to the CM, requesting him to suspend the drive for at least a year citing various reasons, like possible misuse of defunct buildings following the closure and the new schools becoming inaccessible for many children.
Even before the decision to write to the CM was taken during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, I had written to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister immediately after the drive was started, pointing out that the move was against the spirit of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.