Aided primary school managers in Kozhikode district have urged the State government to devise a ‘Malaparamba school-like’ exit plan for them.
The district committee of the Kerala Aided Primary School Managers’ Association, which claims that the schools are already facing big losses, said they would be in further trouble if the proposed changes to the Kerala Education Rules were implemented.
Maintenance grant
District committee secretary Thekkil Suhail told The Hindu that many of the nearly 500 aided lower primary schools in the district were in a dilapidated condition as the government was not paying any maintenance grant.
Until recently, the government paid an annual maintenance grant of Rs.3.25 a student. Since an aided primary school with 300 students got only Rs.1,000 for maintenance for a whole year, very few managers used to take the amount.
After several years of pressure, the government in 2012 raised the grant to Rs.60 a student. However, over the past four years, the grant was paid to only a handful of schools, leaving the others with no fund for building maintenance and repairs.
Mr. Suhail said the managers were ready to hand over the schools to the government if the government either purchased them like it did in the case of the Malaparamba AUP school or paid rent at PWD rates. In the case of the Malaparamba school, he said the government bought the school from the manager for Rs.6 crore. The managers would be happy if such a package was devised for other loss-making schools too.
“If this is not possible, we would be happy to rent the schools to the government if it is ready to pay the current Pubic Works Department rates,” Mr. Suhail said.
He said the proposed changes in the 58-year-old KER was “unscientific and one-sided”. It would further break the ailing aided primary school system.
