PANAJI:
All Goa Government Recognized Unaided Schools Association (AGGRUSA) held a peacefully rally in the capital city earlier this morning as part of the national movement for reform in education and to express solidarity with the parent body NISA. Stakeholders including educationists, parents and students joined the rally from various towns and culminated at the Parade ground in Panaji to raise a collective voice in support of reform in education policies.
Over one lakh education stakeholder representing government recognized unaided schools from across the country have united and gathered in New Delhi today, to call on the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and voice their collective concerns on the education sector. To this end, a mass gathering of all stakeholders was organised at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi to demand for reform in education. A delegation will be presenting a Charter of Demands to the Prime Minister, and request for representation on key policy-making decisions in the field of education.
Deepak Khaitan, Founder Member of AGGRUSA and Aparna Palyekar, President, AGGRUSA are representing Goa at the national gathering of stakeholders in New Delhi.
Speaking at the rally in Panaji, Abhay Mathur, Principal, Sunshine Worldwide School said, “An issues that hasn’t affected Goa yet, but it has affected schools across the country, which will also be implemented in Goa in the future is the 25% reservation of seats rule. We are not running away from our responsibility. It is a good initiative, but if a school blocks 25% of the seats, it messes up the whole system. It will mean the other children will have to cover the cost of education for the children who cannot afford education and it puts pressure in finances. Schools may not be able to invest in their own up-gradation. 25% seats have to be reserved, but let the cost be refundable.”
Gautam Karangate, Administrator, Gyanvakas School, “Everyone thanks good teachers. When a child first joins a school, the child is not only provided with knowledge to select the right career. It is the environment and the values inculcated. Schools are restricted by rules and regulations and therefore cannot expose students to knowledge. Schools should be given the liberty to provide better facilities for the students. To create a better environments for students to learn values and gain knowledge.”
Nirmesh Tyagi, Director, Edify School said, “It is not easy to run a school. Documentation is extensive. There are several documents and permissions required and in some cases documents that are acquired need to be changed as the norms change. We are in a country where we require schools. We request the government to please creat a single window clearance where work can be done in a time bound manner. There should be one rule which applies to all schools. The second issue is the choice of boards. Every school from any board requires re-recognition after every three years. Schools follow the norms of the board, yet why is re-recognition required every three years? The process requires a lot of paperwork and follow-ups. We request the government to look into these two issues schools face.”
The education should have intensive programme of driving out ignorance through carefully selected teachers and equally carefully selected syllabus. This is possible only if the initiatives are taken by the educational institute. Nothing is more detrimental to the true growth of the society than for it to be habituated to the belief that no reform can be achieved by voluntary effort. People so trained become wholly unfit for ‘Swaraj’.
