The Hindu : Kerala News : Aided school postings upset social balance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Aided school postings upset social balance

N.J. Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The meagre representation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections among the teaching fraternity in aided schools may upset the social balance in the education sector, it is feared.

Aided schools continue to be the backbone of the education system and are a potential source of employment for the educated unemployed. But such schools are functioning outside the purview of the reservation norms set by the government for ensuring social justice in the appointment of teachers. No significant step has been taken so far to enforce the reservation norms in the schools being run with government support, sources said.

Official sources told The Hindu that there were 1,06,936 teachers in aided schools. But the representation of SC/STs was far below the mandatory levels. There were only 353 Scheduled Caste teachers and 22 headmasters in these schools. The level of representation of the Scheduled Tribes was still bleak. There were only 87 teachers and nine headmasters from among them.

The educational expenses of the government are steadily going up every year. A review of the expenses over the past few years shows a progressive increase with every passing year. For instance, it rose from Rs. 3,034.39 crore in 2003-04 to Rs. 3,207.56 crore in 2004-05. This does not include the funds expended for art, culture, sports and youth services. The expenses have increased by 5.71 per cent in 2004-05 over that in the previous year. Primary education accounted for 41.5 per cent of the total expenditure in 2004-05 and secondary sector, including vocational education, 35.78 per cent. The aided school system continues to maintain its strong presence. Of the 12,644 schools, 7,290, which account for 57.7 per cent of the total number, are aided. Of the 2,790 high schools, 51.2 per cent are aided schools. Such schools are a majority in the upper and lower primary sections too. As much as 61.6 per cent of the 3,037 upper primary and 58.6 per cent of the 6,817 lower primary schools are being run by private managements with government aid.

This goes to prove that despite spending sizeable sums from the exchequer, the government does not have any role in the recruitment process in the education sector, sources said.

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