Congress opposes "privatisation" of schools in tribal areas

The main opposition Congress today said in the assembly model schools set up in tribal areas of Chhattisgarh have been privatised, a claim contested by the BJP government.
The party legislators, who staged a walk-out from the House over the issue, said these government-run schools were suppose to provide free education, but they are now charging "hefty" fees from students.
Raising the issue through a call attention motion, Deepak Baiz and Santram Netam (both Congress) said model schools being run in tribal areas have been privatised.
These schools had been established with an objective to provide free education to students in tribal-dominated areas. However, the state government silently carried out their privatisation, defeating the main aim, they said.

Due to their privatisation, these schools are charging "hefty" fees ranging from Rs 30,000 to 35,000 per annum, which the poor people in tribal areas can't afford, they added.
These institutes lack basic amenities like drinking water and teaching staff, the Congress MLAs said.

Rejecting the claim, School Education Minister Kedar Kashyap said these institutes are being run under PPP (public private partnership) mode as Mukhyamantri DAV Public Schools.
For operating these schools, an agreement had been signed with the DAV Management Committee,New Delhi in a fully transparent manner, he said.
The minister said it is incorrect to say that due to their fee structure, common people are unable to get their children admitted in these schools.

In fact, all the 17,752 students studying in these schools prior to the agreement are being provided free education as was the case earlier. Only the new students are being charged a fee, he said.
Besides, for the new admissions, 25 per cent of the seats have been reserved for candidates falling under the RTE (Right to Education) category. Also, 8 per cent of the seats have been earmarked for SC/ST students, he said.
Students from both these categories will receive free education. This way, 33 per cent of the children taking admissions will not have to pay any fee, Kashyap said.

Apart from these centres of learning, hundreds of schools are being run by the government in tribal districts like Bastar, Kondagaon, Kanker, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma and Narayanpur, where education is completely free, Kashyap said.
He said an additional Rs 15 crore will be provided by the government to improve infrastructure in the model schools.
Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singhdeo (both Congress) said the DAV committee has been given control of both the school buildings and financial matters.
Unsatisfied with the ministry's reply, Congress MLAs staged a walk-out from the House.