Bathinda, April 26
The Punjab Government’s idea of privatising government schools may be restricted to papers as of now, but its positive outcome would soon be there for all to see.
Fearing privatisation of government schools, the schoolteachers in Malwa have started a door-to-door campaign to increase admissions in their schools.
According to sources, the government schools are now following in the footsteps of private schools in running their admission campaigns. About 200 children were studying in the government school of Lehra Bega and now about 150 new students have already been admitted.
Headmaster Sukhminder Singh Bhullar held a meeting with the village panchayat and the PTA and stressed the need to increase the number of admissions in his school. Forty students had cleared the Class V examination, but the admissions in Class VI had touched the figure of 60, which included 20 new students.
At Nahiawala village, there is a daily announcement on the gurdwara’s loudspeaker appealing to the people to admit their children to the government school. Here too the number of students in Class VI has increased to 105 as against 98 passouts of Class V.
Mr Lal Singh, a government schoolteacher from Khemuana, said that they had also resorted to announcements from the local gurdwara to check the dropout rate. Textbooks are also being arranged for Dalit students.
A teacher from Rad village had paid the fee of a poor girl student from his own pocket to achieve the target of the number of Class VI students. Teachers also fear that if the number of students fell, their posts would be decreased.
The primary teachers of Ramuwala village have increased 14 students through their drive. Similarly, in Jalal village, 10 more students have been admitted to the primary school as compared to the last year. In Pahula and Tungwali villages, the number of admissions has gone up with the teachers making personal efforts.
The Principal of government school in Talwandi Sabo, Mr Surinder Singh, admitted that the number of admissions had gone up in the government schools as compared to the last year.
The government school principal of Maud Kalan, Mr Satpal, said they wanted to admit more students, but had to refuse them admission owing to lack of space.
Sources said the government schoolteachers were in a mood to oppose privatisation in every possible manner. About 43 village panchayats of Nathana and Bhagta blocks have stated that they would not tolerate privatisation of education and the health sector.
