Gandhinagar: Opposition on Wednesday came down heavily on the Gujarat government’s circular which asks district education officers to select the best schools with good numbers of students, when ministers visit their respective district during the Shala Praveshotsav from June 23 to 25.
The state education department has issued a circular which directs aythorities to select only certain schools for Shala Praveshotsav. It states, “At taluka level, during three days event, each day a different school is to be selected for state level VIPs. Only such schools should be selected where number of students is good, geographically well located, if possible select such schools that are excellent.”
Criticising the state circular, Congress spokesman Manish Doshi alleged, “The government is trying to cover up with this circular. It means that schools having inferior infrastructure do not get exposed in this exercise. How long one can hide facts.”
“There is nothing wrong in selecting schools with good numbers,” said Digvijaysinh Jadeja, president of the Gujarat State Primary Teachers Association. He feels that if the school with 50 or 60 students is selected, hardly four or five students will approach for new admissions, whereas for schools with 300 or 500 students, those seeking admission will be higher and so DEOs are asked to select schools with higher numbers of students.
At the same time he is surprised at the instruction that schools of excellence should be selected. According to him, not a single school of excellence is ready. The state has just invited tenders for developing such schools. If the department is talking about designated schools of excellence at taluka headquarters, then such schools are very few.
–IANS