The neo-liberal policies of the government and the rapid commercialisation of education has dealt a death blow to the government schools in the country, felt Anil Sadgopal, presidium member, All India Forum for Right To Education.
“It began in 1990s with the first round which was about destroying the government schools with certain policies. The second round was about discrediting these schools by involving NGOs who would release yearly reports on how more number of students are joining private schools than the government ones. In the third round, the government schools are being sold away.”
Mr. Sadgopal was delivering a talk at the “Democratic Education Convention” which was organised in the city on Sunday on the occasion of 187th birth anniversary of social reformer Jyotirao Phule. The convention was organised by the All India Forum for Right To Education and A.P. Save Education Committee.
He gave out statistics on various government schools which are either being sold or closed down across the country. “About 12,000 schools are going to be closed in Karnataka soon, Maharashtra government has decided to close more than 2,000 schools ,” he said. Pointing out that initiatives like Sarva Siksha Abhyaan and Right To Education have only empowered the private schools, he said that the underprivileged section is not benefiting from the current education system.
