Plan to hand over govt schools to pvt entities opposed

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction with the State government’s plan to hand over the management of some government schools to private educational institutions.

The student organisation was referring to the statement of the Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday that private educational institutions would be asked to take over government schools in Gram Panchayats as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) measure.

“Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar and the Education Department officials have been instructed to form a committee under the leadership of Shivakumar and Education Minister Shri Madhu Bangarappa (Education Minister) to formulate an action plan to upgrade government schools in partnership with private companies and provide facilities. AIDSO strongly condemns the government’s attitude of shirking its responsibility to finance government schools by relying on corporate donations,” AIDSO state secretary Ajay Kamath said.

“It is the basic responsibility of the government to provide education to the children of the country. Government’s primary duty is to finance education. The condition of government schools in the state has reached a more deplorable state due to the impact of rains last month. Schools need money for renovation but not charity by corporate companies. Government schools should be maintained with the tax money paid by people of this state,” he added.