National Coalition for School Education which is a union of seven national level associations of private schools, on March 22, 2018, in New Delhi has launched Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan (Save Education Campaign) with the help of National Independent Schools Associations (NISA).
Across India, 6489 schools have already been closed and 7898 have received a notice of closure between 2014-16, according to sources.
Commenting on this matter Kulbhusan Sharma, Chairman of National Coalition for School Education said, “While the state of education calls for urgent reform, the government seems to be working only for appeasement and quick fix.”
He added that the chief demands of the charter to save education are-
- Guardians to be given Rs. 2500 every month per child for schooling expenditure
- Teaching services to be exempted from income tax
- Ensuring safety of students, teachers, and management in school premise
- Amendments to RTE Act 2009 for learning outcome-based school recognition system instead of infrastructure based
Anil Goyal of South Delhi Unrecognised Schools Association added, “The widely celebrated Right to Education Act of 2009, even with its all good intention, is resulting into a more divisive instrument, creating conflict between schools, parents, media and civil society groups.”
According to Prem Chand Deshwal of Private Land Public Schools Association, every state has taken up the responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to all children between 6-14 years of age, and which in turn has an increased the government’s control over the education system and providers. This intervention, he added, had become the threat to every school’s autonomy.
Rajesh Malhotra, VP of National Independent Schools Alliance said, “Parents want the best for their children, and even poor parents, whose only is hope to change their lives is through providing their children with good education.”
NISA has organized a protest on April 7, 2018, in Ramleela Maidan to address this issue and urged all the private schools across India to come and join hands in presenting their charter to Prime Minister Modi.