School should be declared as a commercial institution as well as industry. In order to encourage talent and quality education, we must understand that the investment requirement for land, building, sports grounds and facilities is very high. This community and its stakeholders suffered a great loss during Covid-19 pandemic. Many teachers have lost jobs, schools were shut permanently and teachers were not paid full salary as the fee collection was declining during this period. There is no government support for private schools, at the same time schools are asked to follow various instructions from respective school boards, district education offices and various other government officials.
Rule 19.1 (ii) of CBSE Affiliation Bye-Laws mandates that the Society/Trust/Company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 “shall ensure that the school is run as a community service and not as a business and that commercialisation does not take place in the school in any shape whatsoever.” Schools are non-commercial educational institutions in India. School boards run by the government had reminded time and again that “the school shall not use its building and infrastructure for any commercial activity” and also not to sell textbooks and other stationery items within the school premise or through any selected vendors.
I remember, while working in a school in Chhattisgarh, the school chairman collected 55 per cent of the total fee collected and 45 per cent only left to the school principal towards salary and other expenses. The same school managements running another college in the same building and principle followed is the same. Again he collects 50 per cent of the total total fee and he claims that this is his consultancy. He explains further that if I had given this property on rent or if it was converted into a shopping complex or mall, how much he could have earned.
Our constitution guarantees Right to Education, whereas as per United Nations Sustainable Goal of Development it is quality education for all. Offering quality education is a tough task for government institutions though there is huge government support and investment. But it is surprising to see the condition of government schools and government hospitals where there are computers and oxygen equipment kept unused and wasted. Therefore, it is the joint responsibility of government and private institutions to impart quality education. Government will need to ensure the initial investment as land, building, teachers’ salary and running expenses is provided by the government and private schools both.
One of the best examples we find is in Arunachal Pradesh where the government provided land, building, teachers salary and running expenses to Ramakrishna Mission and Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya and these institutions are doing exemplary work in the field of development by providing quality education to all. There are many corporates who have entered in the field of education by setting up big schools with good infrastructure and huge investment running this institution by making a trust with dual purpose either using their CSR funds or fully from charity purpose or paying back to society. Though these types of institutions are less in number and it is not everybody’s cup of tea.
But the problem lies with those who started schools as their livelihood. They were fully dependent on school income. There are a huge number of such types of schools in villages, towns or in the cities. They could not survive, sustain when they were not able to offer online or get the fees from parents. These schools employ a good number of unemployed teachers and these teachers do not get any benefit other than negotiated low salary and continuation in the job totally depends on the wishes of the school owner.
There are mushrooming of schools run by religious and missionaries where the state of education is poor and salaries to the teachers are nominal. There is mushrooming of educational institutions run by Sangh and its associate, religious and missionary organisations but what is more painful and evident is the exploitation of teachers and staff. They are paid minimum salary, no job security and no social security.
School authority is supposed to obtain many clearances every year and the bureaucratic attitude and corruption in the government departments while obtaining several certificates such as fire safety, building safety, health department, school education department which is mandated by government. Schools are also required to renew their affiliation and here again they have to pay a bribe in order to get their inspection completed. Members of inspection committees behave as if they have got a blank cheque by getting appointed as a member or chairman. They do not turn up for inspection in the first instance until they get a huge amount as a bribe. There may be exceptions but in the majority of cases the situation is the same.
Corruption in the government offices and educational boards and ministries is another topic altogether. NCTE lays certain guidelines and makes it compulsory to pass TET/CTET examination in addition to Diploma/Degree in Education. NCTE has published a list of recognized institutions under different zones. However, unfortunately selling of the B.Ed degree still exists. Regular teachers working in schools are able to manage regular degrees from Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. I failed to understand how the same person is present at both locations in school as well as B.Ed degree colleges. It is only possible by paying a huge bribe and getting everything managed.
We need to encourage investment and maximum participation from private sector players in order to improve the state of education and quality education in particular. The Government of India must come forward and declare education as commercial activity and educational institutions as industry by making a proper law. Private players should also get support in infrastructure development and they should get hassle free environment to establish and grow as an educational institution
