The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Will unapproved schools set their house in order?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 10, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Will unapproved schools set their house in order?

V. Jayanth

Extension makes it more difficult to close shop in the midst of a new academic year.

CHENNAI: When the State Government decided to crack the whip on the mushrooming nursery, primary, and elementary schools that had no approval, it was widely welcomed by political parties and educationists. The argument was that the "glamour" of English medium education had spread deep in rural areas and had resulted in an unprecedented, unplanned growth of unapproved schools. They charged high fees but lacked basic infrastructure. Worse, they did not meet any of the health, sanitation or safety standards.

So, when the Government asked all those schools to close down by June 1 if they had not met the guidelines, it was generally welcomed. Some of the schools and associations approached court. Some obtained interim relief, but the High Court decided to take a serious note of the developments. It asked the Government to respond, but before the matter was disposed of by the court, the Government decided to provide the unapproved schools a three-month reprieve to fall into line.

Grace period

Even while granting the three-month grace period, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa noted: "The highest priority has to be extended to the observation of safety norms in schools where children... spend most part of the day in the pursuit of education." She explained that after the Kumbakonam tragedy on July 16, 2004, she ordered the District Collectors to cause an intensive inspection of all schools and launch a safety drive.

She said: "My Government launched a special drive from December 2004 to ensure that all nursery and primary schools comply strictly with these stability and safety requirements and obtain approval from the concerned authorities. Time was made available including the usual summer vacation to enable all schools to comply with these requirements. The managements of these institutions have been specifically informed once again in April 2005, to strictly ensure compliance and obtain necessary approval before school reopening." Brushing aside all the appeals and warnings from the Government and all its agencies, a majority of these schools effected minor modifications and went ahead admitting students and reopening for the new academic year.

A group of eminent educationists, led by former Vice-Chancellor V. Vasanthi Devi and S.S. Rajagopalan, along with a clutch of child welfare organisations congratulated the Government "on its bold intervention and request the Government not to yield to any pressure from any quarter."

The signatories to a joint statement explained that the Code of Regulations for Nursery and Primary schools was framed and issued as early as 1993 by a committee headed by Dr. S.V. Chittibabu and private managements were well represented in it. The term "approval" was put in place of "recognition" but the schools continued to function without getting approval. "The [Education] department has turned a blind eye to several of the shortcomings in the functioning of schools like poor infrastructure, unqualified teachers, non-maintenance of records etc."

Political parties and many of their leaders have opposed these schools more because they are taking "English" to every nook and corner of the State. But parents argue that it is not for the politicians to decide where and what students study. When most politicians send their wards to English medium schools, how could they prevent rural parents from providing English education to their children? they ask.

The Chief Minister has expressed the hope that the managements of these schools would fully comply with all the regulations and obtain approval within the time limit.

But educationists feel that most of these unapproved schools would again buy time as they would have completed one term and the students cannot be accommodated in any other school at that point of time. A good opportunity to bring all these institutions under some regulation may be lost.

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