Kerala - Kochi   

Protest against handing over of schools to local bodies

KOCHI: The handing over of control and supervision of schools to the local bodies will gradually lead to the collapse of the school system, said the ‘Pothu Vidyabhyaasa Samrakshana Vedi’ and ‘Janakeeya Prathirodha Samiti.’

This was a signal that the State government was pulling out from the school sector, they said. The two organisations plan to send a mass memorandum signed by thousands of people from the district to the government on Monday.

Leaders of the organisations said that if the government order took effect, recruitment of teachers as well as payment of their salaries would be the responsibility of the panchayats and municipal bodies. The cash-strapped panchayats would find it tough. The government wanted the panchayats to meet the schools’ expenses from 2010 and, without new sources of funds, the panchayats would have to find money from its own plan funds, MP-MLA funds, sponsorships and charities. They claimed that the Karnataka experience had shown that the handing over of control of schools to local bodies had caused a reduction of the number of schools in the State by about 7,000. K. Aravindaksha Menon will launch the district-level signature campaign at Thrippunithura at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Breaking the lure of the bottle
Protest against handing over of schools to local bodies
Nuke deal flayed
Fishermen plan rally
Power disruption
Velu’s statement flayed
Wetland facing threat
Dearth of psychiatrists in health services
District cooperative bank opens 50th branch
Packaging Kerala for the world to see
Drunk driving: 30 arrested
Bomb scare at hospital
Roads come under IMA scanner
Kochi today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu