Shivani Chaturvedi (Chennai)

In its third budget presented to the legislative assembly and the public on March 20, the state’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government has increased the outlay for education in 2023-24 to Rs.40,299 crore, 9 percent higher than the previous year and 1.62 percent of GSDP (gross state domestic product).

This higher outlay for education by the DMK government, which is at odds with the Central government on most issues (NEET, CUET, three-languages learning formula), at a time when the Pratham Education Foundation’s ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) is reporting severely deflated learning outcomes in rural primaries countrywide, has been welcomed by educationists statewide.

However, the highlight of the budget session of the legislative assembly was the government’s announcement that all schools hitherto functioning under various departments such as Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Backward Class, Most Backward Class and Denotified Communities, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments and the forest department will be brought under the supervision of the education ministry’s Department of School Education & Literacy.

“The objective is to achieve the goal of social justice in the field of education, to improve the quality of schools functioning under various departments, and to ensure that all students are provided with quality education,” said finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan in his budget speech. Moreover, the minister added that the service conditions and benefits of teachers and staff, presently working in these schools will be protected.

According to government insiders, this clustering of all schools hitherto operated by various bodies is the outcome of requests to the government to operate and maintain Adi Dravidar Welfare Schools (which serve children of 8 million tribals across the state) under the school education department.

Although this initiative will result in tighter management and egalitarian education for tribal children, some educationists believe it will be detrimental to students as well as teachers of such schools. Currently, 1.2 lakh students are enrolled in 1,466 Adi Dravidar schools across the state. In addition, nearly 30,000 students are enrolled in 300 Kallar Reclamation Schools run by Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Denotified Communities Welfare departments.

“All these special schools are established near the dwelling places of these communities. If the schools are closed and merged with other schools, will children get easy access? And since most of these children are first generation learners, will they benefit from equal treatment? Moreover, government schools themselves don’t have sufficient number of teachers. In July last year, 39,000 government schools had vacancies for 13,000 teachers. All this will adversely impact the teaching-learning process for tribal children,” says Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of the State Platform for Common School System, Tamil Nadu.

Adds M. Nagarajan, general secretary, Madurai Kamaraj, Manonmaniam Sundaranar, Mother Teresa, and Alagappa University Teachers’ Association: “By bringing schools run by various departments under one umbrella, the purpose of establishing those schools to provide appropriate differentiated learning will be defeated. Even the recruitment process of teachers will be adversely affected. The Kallar Reclamation Schools established by the British in 1921 gave priority to teachers belonging to the most backward Kallar community. By merging the schools the employment of these teachers will be endangered.”