35 BMC schools not to shut down, will have teachers from NGOs

The education committee of BMC said that both students and parents are not keen to study in Marathi medium in the civic-run schools due to the dominance of the Marathi language. These schools were shut down as students did not want to enrol in these schools

Around 35 Marathi-medium civic-run schools that were shut for over a year will soon be converted to English medium. BMC wants Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to provide teachers who will focus on teaching English language in these schools.

The education committee of BMC said that both students and parents are not keen to study in Marathi medium in the civic-run schools due to the dominance of the Marathi language. These schools were shut down as students did not want to enrol in these schools.

Shubhada Gudekar, chairman of the education committee of BMC, said, “Every parent should ask themselves if they are willing to enrol their children in BMC schools. Everybody wants to go to private schools because of the English language.”

The teachers of the BMC schools also lack the command over the language. A senior civic official said, “The teachers cannot speak correct and fluent English themselves therefore they find it difficult to impart it to the students. The teachers from these organisations will focus on English and this will help the students to learn the language at an early age.”

The principal, staff and other facilities will be provided by BMC while only teachers will be provided by the NGOs. The salaries of these teachers will be given by the organisation. This proposal suffered criticism on Monday from other municipal corporators.

Shivnath Darade, a member of the committee, said, “The civic body should implement this initiative in the appropriate manner. They have tried to get other organisations to help schools in past but it did not materialise effectively.”

This move has come to empower the students studying in civic-run schools as English language is the basis of communication. Gudekar added, “Our schools are for those children who come from weak financial backgrounds. English language is an important factor in the education space. There are organisations who voluntarily want to help improve the education so we welcome them.”