New bill cleared in Haryana assembly, end of road for govt-aided schools

GURGAON: After merging state-aided schools with government schools in the 2017-18 academic session, the Haryana government finally ended this provision in the new school education rules by getting the Haryana School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2023 cleared in the Assembly on Tuesday.
This has effectively replaced the erstwhile Haryana School Education Act, 1995, and done away with the need for government-aided schools in the state. “Provisions for the aided schools were made in the Act of 1995 because there was a shortage of government schools in the state and providing education is the prime responsibility of the state. According to the present condition, all geographical locations in the state, as required by various legal provisions, are covered by government schools. Hence, there is no need for aided schools in the state,” the bill stated.
The state had over 220 state-aided schools across the 22 districts. While the schools’ management was private, salaries of the teachers were aided by the government. The state government provided around 75% of the salary for the employees in these schools. These schools have been taken over by the government and the teachers employed on aided posts have been inducted into the cadre of the department.
According to the school education department, the process of merging over 220 state-aided schools and taking over their staff had been completed four years ago, the recent notification formally establishes that only government and private schools will exist in the state.
The department has maintained the move will not have any implications on the staff and students as the mergers have been accomplished and the teaching staff has been taken over by the department.
“It’s a misnomer that these aided schools have been shut. Instead, they are completely merged with the government schools. The teaching staff that was appointed to aided posts have also been taken over and are now even placed in different government schools in the transfer drive conducted last year. The recent announcement is to back this decision in legal terms,” said a senior education department official.
According to the sources in the department, the bill has been brought in place to help the government avoid legal entanglements.
“It’s a good decision indeed. The merger had been completed years ago and it was about time the government took this step. It will help teachers of these schools as they are now treated at par with government school teachers. For the students, the education will become free until class 8,” said Dushyant Thakran, a government school teacher and district head of the Haryana Prathmik Shikshak Sangh.