BENGALURU: The hasty decision of the State Government to merge/close government schools merely on the basis of economic calculation defeats the very notion of education as larger public good to build a sovereign, secular, socialist, democratic nation as embodied in the Constitution. The decision will act as a major blow to the state-funded public education system.
The general public will lose whatever little confidence it has left in the public education system.
The establishment of a strong public education system is the cornerstone to enable the realisation of the right to education of the masses.
It is with this purpose that the establishment of a strong public education system by strengthening government schools has always been emphasised as a core responsibility of the state.
Closure of government schools will keep education out of reach for the masses, especially the children coming from marginalised and downtrodden classes and particularly girl children.
No doubt, the government has the option of accomplishing this responsibility with the assistance of private philanthropic institutions running educational institutions for charity and not for profit by imposing certain norms and restrictions upon them. But, the government cannot shift the onus entirely on these institutions by slowly doing away with the government schools.
Government schools always play a major role in fulfilling the responsibility of the State to provide free and compulsory education to all children, as enshrined in the Constitution, re-emphasised in the RTE Act, 2009 and affirmed by the courts of India from time to time.
In this background, top priority should be given to strengthening government schools by providing the necessary resources and facilities to ensure equitable quality education.
The author is Fellow and Programme Head, Universalisation of Equitable Quality Education Programme, Centre for Child and the Law, NLSIU, Bengaluru