The government’s decision to include private schools in the realm of the ‘Amma Vodi’ scheme has kicked up a controversy with teachers’ and students’ unions and youth organisations speaking out against it.
Leaders of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ Organisations (FAPTO), who met on Tuesday, demanded that the government roll back its decision. They also insisted on the implementation of the common school system as recommended by the Kothari Commission.
The State secretariat of FAPTO chalked out a series of protests to build pressure on the government. Starting from this month, teachers would attend duties sporting black badges on the 26th of every month. Extensive distribution of pamphlets on the programme, postcard campaign wherein every teacher would send a postcard to the Chief Minister reiterating the demand till July 15, submission of memoranda to people’s representatives from July 6 to July 25, awareness meetings at the taluka level from July 26 to August 15 and district-level meetings from August 15 would mark the campaign.
Roundtable
At a roundtable on Amma Vodi, presesided over by State president of All India Student Federation (AISF) M.V. Subba Rao here on Tuesday, the leaders argued that implementation of the programme in private schools also would defeat its very purpose. They urged the Jagan Mohan Reddy government to keep private schools out of the ambit of the programme if it wanted government schools to prosper.
G. Ranganna and K. Ramesh, State general secretaries of AISF and Student Federation of India (SFI) respectively, said the decision had triggered confusion over its implementation. They said the financial burden on the exchequer on account of its implementation would be ₹ 10,000 crore per annum. They said the TDP government had ruined the education sector by completely neglecting it, leading to the closure of about 4,500 State-run schools. It implemented policies favourable to private and corporate schools, they alleged.