The day schools reopened in the State on Wednesday, was also the last day the school van of any private school entered Wattimarthy, a village with nearly 2,800 population abutting the National Highway-65.
From 15 students boarding the van from the village centre on day one to only five the next day, that too outside the village, a lot has happened in between. The answer lies in the Wednesday’s ‘unanimous resolution’ of the village panchayat.
“No entry for private school buses/vans into the village. Appropriate action will be initiated if violated,” reads the panchayat resolution, signed by the sarpanch and the panchayat secretary.
“The Mandal Parishad Primary School and the Zilla Parishad High School belong to everyone in the village and with the help of some funds from donors, quality education has been made possible,” says sarpanch B. Ravinder Reddy. A well-attended gram sabha backed the decision, he adds.
For parents like J. Yadagiri, who support the resolution, private schools are not affordable. However, with school vans picking up and dropping children right from the village, poor parents lured by ‘English and quality education’, borrow and pay the exorbitantly high school fee.“The annual fee for my fourth standard son is ₹ 20,000 and transport fee ₹ 5000 is a must since kids can’t be left on the highway,” he explains.
According to Head Master Srinivas Reddy the Zilla Parishad High School at Wattimarthy has nine staff members and a strength of 112 students, who also come from the neigbouring Gummalabavi and Gopalayapally villages. The school registered a 95% pass 95 in the recent SSC exams.
The primary school has two regular teachers and vidya volunteers teaching 250 schoolchildren. With support from Uddepana, an initiative for strengthening public education, both the schools feature English teaching.
Violation of rights
The three families of the village who send their five children to private schools feel the decision by the gram panchayat deprives them of their right to choose a school.
“Village elders threaten school principals that school vans will be vandalised if they enter the village. Why should we go a kilometre away and board the bus? Do the Collector, the DEO and Education Department support such resolutions?” ask the aggrieved parents.
Another parent P. Narender Reddy points out that the government schools lack teachers, classrooms are overcrowded and hence pupil’s concentration is not ensured. Accountability of teachers for ward’s performance is also possible in private schools.
“Primary School Pittampally, Wattimarthy and Gopalayapally are very different from the Minority Gurukulam, where Vikarabad Collector admitted her child,” he reasons.
The three families are planning to approach the district administration and also the Human Rights Commission with a complaint of how their rights have been violated by the panchayat.
