Cutting the lifeline

Aided schools in Maharashtra face a bleak future because of the governments decision to cut financial assistance.

in Mumbai

This is the time of the year when schools reopen after a long break. It is also the time when the higher secondary examination results are out. Schools are ready to begin admissions to higher classes. Unfortunately, for many schools in Maharashtra, it is also the beginning of another year of frustration.

Every start of the school year, aided schools in the State make several appeals to the State government to sort out issues regarding their funding, infrastructure, administration and faculty. Each year the pleas are not just met with stone-cold silence, but worse, the State comes up with excuses to withdraw support to these schools, thereby crippling them to a point where many are now facing huge debts and possible closure. The authorities of several schools have decided to take their campaign to save the institutions to parents and lawmakers in the hope that some solution will emerge.

Educationists believe that the State government is uninterested in carrying out its social responsibility towards education. The neoliberal policies it now follows make it appear that the government would prefer to absolve itself from the entire process. Recent decisions seem to lead people to believe that it is driving these institutions towards privatisation.

Meanwhile, private organisations, realising the States reluctance to provide quality education, have stepped in to fill the void. While they may impart quality education, they also have a free hand in deciding the fees and admissions. This makes it difficult for a large percentage of the population to opt for private schools, but this is the only option available since most aided schools are struggling to keep going. While there are private schools offering the State board curriculum, most opt for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or the Indian Schools Certificate Examinations (ICSE), which is autonomous of the State.

The 265 English-medium aided schools in Maharashtra are in a sorry state. In a bid to promote regional languages, the government has decided it will aid only those English medium aided schools that were established before 1973. The funds, instead, would be directed towards the growth of regional language schools. Unfortunately, Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati schools are not as sought-after as English schools. Therefore, there are few new regional language schools. Many are closing because of lack of students.

In 2004, as many as 700 Marathi divisions of aided schools shut down. Although the numbers are hard to ascertain, several Marathi schools themselves have completely closed. There are almost no Gujarati schools or colleges left in Mumbai, says Sudhir Paranjpe, a professor and member of a teachers union in Mumbai. The reasons are multiple, but the main issue is that students in urban areas believe English is a language necessary for employment or even for higher education. Also, they find making the transition from a regional language school to an English medium college very difficult and, therefore, parents prefer to enrol children in English-medium schools from the beginning.

These schools may get aid, but the government has to do much more consciously, says Paranjpe. But the governments lack of interest even in these cases is a clear indicator that education is not its priority. An ideal situation is to have a regional language as a medium of instruction and also have a strong English department. In the employment market, a person who can write and speak two languages fluently would definitely have an edge over those conversant just in English.

According to the figures given by the State Education Department, local government schools are the largest in number: 58,214. Coming second, at 17,281, are the aided schools. There are approximately 8,500 private schools. The numbers clearly indicate that the aided institutions are responsible for imparting education to a large number of the States population. If you tamper with their finances you are crippling the education system, which caters to the needs of lakhs of children, says Sister Valerie Miranda, principal of St. Josephs Convent in Bandra, a suburb in Mumbai. Our biggest problem is paying salaries, and the maintenance of the school. Of course, all aided schools are struggling with the same problem, says Sister Miranda. We have to find a way out of this mess. Otherwise institutions like ours will soon face extinction.

St. Josephs Convent was founded in 1876 and therefore comes under the English medium aided-school category. A well known girls school, it is struggling to keep afloat. Sister Miranda has appealed to the parent teacher association (PTA) and the alumni for help. There is a limit to what can be done within the parameters of the aided-school system. For instance, fees cannot be raised under any circumstance. The appointment of staff is bound by government regulations, and the school cannot use its premises for any purpose other than education. Therefore, there are few other means of extra income to pay for the upkeep of the school. The case of St. Josephs Convent is indicative of what is happening in the other 264 schools.

Sister Miranda says that though the government pays the salary bill, this comes in fits and starts and the school has to follow up constantly with the department to get the money released. The government also pays a non-salary grant for the non-teaching staff and for facilities such as laboratories. This is 6 per cent of the salary grant. For instance, if the salary grant is Rs.1 crore, the non-salary grant would be Rs.6 lakh. This is nothing for a school as big as ours. We have over 75,000 square feet of space. It would cost at least Rs.30 lakh just to paint the school. How do we then pay for lab equipment, electricity bills, ground expenses, blackboards, and so on? says Sister Miranda.

Because of this, the schools resort to a bit of accounting jugglery to meet the rules of the auditors and to fill their coffers. By charging special laboratory, computer and sports fees they manage to meet the expenses. But they feel the parents cannot be burdened all the time. Besides, education for girls is now free. It is a good thing, but sometimes it prevents us from asking parents to help us, Sister Miranda says.

Recently we lost a lot of good staff because we were unable to pay them good salaries. Many have joined private schools that pay very well. And why not? If you are a good teacher you should be paid accordingly. Unfortunately, schools such as ours suffer with these losses and it is happening more often now, says Sister Miranda.

The Maharashtra government stipulates that when a vacancy arises, a teacher be appointed under the Shikshan Sevak scheme a sort of contract system. Under this programme, a person with a B.Ed degree is qualified to teach class eight and upwards and will get Rs.4,000 a month, and one with a D.Ed qualification would teach classes below eight and get Rs.3,000. This when the minimum wage for unskilled labour is Rs.3,500. Moreover, these teachers get paid only for the months they work. Or, they do not get paid during the holidays. After three years they are absorbed into the regular teaching rolls. This is a huge saving for the government as a teachers average salary comes to about Rs.15,000 a month.

The government has also banned the appointment of new non-teaching staff. If a staff member retires, we will still need that job to be done. How do we do it if we cannot afford to pay him? asks Sister Miranda.

The State has handled the topic of education on a trial and error basis, says Rajesh Sanghvi, a member of the PTA United Forum, an umbrella organisation of several PTAs in Mumbai. Ad hoc decisions have led to chaos in the system. There does not seem to be a defined policy and this has led to a cascading effect on all aided English-medium schools in the country.

Outlining the history of bad decisions with regard to these schools, Sanghvi says to start with it was irrational to stop giving aid to English schools that began functioning after 1973. English is a universal language and has nothing to do with anti-nationalism. We need to accept this fact. In 2001, the State decided that a pupils fee would be based on what kind of ration card the parent held. The PTAs opposed this government resolution (GR) and it was withdrawn. In the same year, another GR was floated: it said 50 per cent aid would be withdrawn as parents were affluent and could afford to pay fees.

The Shikshan Sevak scheme began in 2002. Other than saving money for the government, it seems to have done little good for education. In 2004, the government decided to introduce board examinations for the fourth and seventh standards. Apart from adding pressure to the already overburdened children and allowing the tuition and coaching class industry to flourish, this move was clearly not going to benefit anyone. In fact, it would have cost the government more. Thanks to the PTAs opposition, the government withdrew that decision too.

What seems absolutely baffling is why the State is targeting education in this manner, says Sanghvi. Education is essential for the development of any welfare state. It is not an expenditure, but an investment. He says the government does not withdraw money for infrastructure, or for water or for roads. Why does it not realise the importance of education? he asks.

They do realise it is important but they have also worked out that it is easier to allow a private organisation to take care of the requirement, says Paranjpe, who used to teach at Chinai College of Commerce in Mumbai. The institution remains practically closed because of shortage of funds. The aided system has been hacked to bits. You will see many more such cases coming up soon. Options for the Chinai management include selling the land or giving it to a private management.

To save the system, Sanghvi says, the schools can either opt for the CBSE or ICSE pattern, which essentially means privatising education, or keep the SSC board going and the parents decide to pay better fees to improve the infrastructure. Also, the alumni could step in and create a corpus as they do in the Indian Institutes of Technology. Schools could also approach corporate houses for sponsorships. Whatever the route, help and support is the call of the hour.