Team Herald
PANJIM: Against the backdrop of the number of primary schools with low or zero enrollments increasing, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has directed the Education Department to revive the amalgamation proposal mooted by his predecessor, late Manohar Parrikar.
The Education Department received instructions from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), to take up the issue on priority. The aim is to implement the amalgamation process by the next academic year of 2020-21.
Director of Education Nagraj Honnekeri has been asked to survey all the primary schools that have few students and look at how these schools can be merged with facilities in close proximity to them. The students can be provided the required transport facility to their new schools under the Bal Rath scheme.
Also the teachers would be placed under one roof thereby helping in improving the student-teacher ratio.
“The basic idea of the concept was to ensure that all the resources are under one roof, so that the infrastructure can be concentrated at a single point. Also the schools, which run with few students, can be shifted,” said a senior education department official.
With a large number of parents, choosing to send their children to private schools, even in rural areas, the enrollment in government primary schools has declined.
The amalgamation concept was introduced by former CM Parrikar but did not take off, after his health started deteriorating at that time.
“The Education Department has begun the process of amalgamation but it was later dropped. In 2012, almost 250 schools were proposed for amalgamation “said the official. The Sawant-led government has taken up the issue again and has set a deadline for the Education Department.
“The current government has prioritised education as their focus point. CM has already spoken about enabling children and youth. This is one of the steps towards it,” the official said. As per the statistics provided by the Education Department, for the current academic year another 10 schools are likely to be shut by this month end.
