MP govt renames 80 schools in Singrauli
BHOPAL:IN an almost monthlong exercise which concluded on Sunday, the Singrauli district changed the names of 80 government schools, between 15 to 50-years-old, that were named after the dominant caste in their respective areas. They have now been named after famous personalities to make them casteneutral.
These schools in Singrauli, 780km east of Bhopal, include primary, middle and high schools.
“When the schools were set up, they were named according to the local population simply for the sake of identification. Unfortunately, if the school was named after a Dalit caste, the upper castes became hesitant to send their children to the school, thinking that it was meant exclusively for children of that particular caste. Slowly this started a divide between children on caste lines...” said a local teacher.
Singrauli, collector, Anurag Chaudhary said, “During our tours to various places in the district, we saw many schools having names like ‘Basor Tola’, ‘Harijan Basti’, ‘Godan Tola’, Baiga Basti, Khairwari Tola, Viryani Tola and others... In March, we started identifying the schools that were named after castes. The district panchayat identified 80 such schools and asked the village committee to rename them after famous people,” Chaudhary said.
Activists say that this tradition of naming schools after castes is prevalent in other districts too and needs to be stopped.
“This step should have been taken much earlier. The school is for inspiring children but and putting stamp of a particular caste on the kids on the basis of the school they go to is wrong,” MP Teachers Association, general secretary Ashutosh Pandey said.