‘Municipal schools give free books, uniforms and mid-day meals. The only thing missing is teaching’
Julio Ribeiro
Is it better to send your child to a parish school, run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay, or to a municipal school? This is a question that confronts policemen who stay in various police colonies in Mumbai. If the demand for admissions to just one such parish school in Worli is a pointer, then the answer is clear—low-wage earners prefer parish schools.
Municipal schools provide uniforms, books and mid-day meals. They do not charge fees unlike parish schools which levy fees up to class IV. Despite this, policemen, drivers, housemaids and peons still seek to send their wards to parish schools. The reason is plain: teachers in municipal schools do not teach. Their salaries are higher but motivation is low.
Next to my Worli residence is an English medium municipal school inaugurated a few years ago by one of the Thackerays. It should have been a boon for the poorer sections, including the police families who live in Worli Police Colony just behind my house. But within one or two years of its establishment, the parents started pestering me to get their wards into the school attached to the parish church. Every June, at admission time this is a major headache I have to endure.
At the last meeting of the Mohalla Committee Movement, discussions were diverted from the problem of communal discord to the deteriorating standards in municipal schools. Concern was expressed about the practice of private schools insisting on purchase of books and uniforms from school-appointed suppliers and many felt that this was hard on the not-so-affluent. But most thought this was a small price to pay for the better quality of education that most private schools, particularly convent schools, provide.
There are municipal teachers who talk on their mobiles in class.They also argue that much of their time is spent on distributing books, meals and other goodies under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. On the last day of every month, municipal schools are closed to enable teachers to draw salaries.
Even the poor now want quality education for their children in English medium. They want them to have a better quality of life than they ever did even if it comes at a high cost. Parish schools are in particular demand because of the commitment of the priests and nuns who run them. The obvious solution is to improve the quality of education in municipal schools. Many of these schools have closed as there are no takers and in others, some classes have been discontinued. This is a great waste of public money and space.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan should not be confined to distributing food and uniforms, but should include teaching. There is no earthly reason why poorer paid staff in convent schools should attract greater respect than the better paid teachers of municipal schools.
Municipal schools provide uniforms, books and mid-day meals. They do not charge fees unlike parish schools which levy fees up to class IV. Despite this, policemen, drivers, housemaids and peons still seek to send their wards to parish schools. The reason is plain: teachers in municipal schools do not teach. Their salaries are higher but motivation is low.
Next to my Worli residence is an English medium municipal school inaugurated a few years ago by one of the Thackerays. It should have been a boon for the poorer sections, including the police families who live in Worli Police Colony just behind my house. But within one or two years of its establishment, the parents started pestering me to get their wards into the school attached to the parish church. Every June, at admission time this is a major headache I have to endure.
At the last meeting of the Mohalla Committee Movement, discussions were diverted from the problem of communal discord to the deteriorating standards in municipal schools. Concern was expressed about the practice of private schools insisting on purchase of books and uniforms from school-appointed suppliers and many felt that this was hard on the not-so-affluent. But most thought this was a small price to pay for the better quality of education that most private schools, particularly convent schools, provide.
There are municipal teachers who talk on their mobiles in class.They also argue that much of their time is spent on distributing books, meals and other goodies under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. On the last day of every month, municipal schools are closed to enable teachers to draw salaries.
Even the poor now want quality education for their children in English medium. They want them to have a better quality of life than they ever did even if it comes at a high cost. Parish schools are in particular demand because of the commitment of the priests and nuns who run them. The obvious solution is to improve the quality of education in municipal schools. Many of these schools have closed as there are no takers and in others, some classes have been discontinued. This is a great waste of public money and space.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan should not be confined to distributing food and uniforms, but should include teaching. There is no earthly reason why poorer paid staff in convent schools should attract greater respect than the better paid teachers of municipal schools.
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