Three villages shun private schools

Updated on: Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Inscribing history, three village panchayats in Bheemgal mandal, unanimously passed resolutions urging the residents not to send their children to private schools and send them only to government schools.

They took this decision in view of the dwindling strength of students in government schools which are on the verge of closure. Enthused by the promise held out by the authorities that they would provide all necessary facilities at local schools, the villagers want introduction of English medium of instruction at the existing government schools in their villages.
Good response

There was a tremendous response to the door-to-door campaign conducted by sarpanch Nagula Lakshmi Bhoomanna in her Babanagar village on Saturday and over 30 families came forward to send their children to the local government schools instead of convent schools in the mandal headquarter, three kilometres away. Several other families in the village also promised not to send their wards to private schools. “In the village with a population of 2,000, over a period of time it has become a practice to admit children in private schools threatening the very existence of government schools. We would like to end this practice,” said Bhoomanna, the sarpanch's husband.

“The villagers unanimously resolved to do this in the gram sabhas in the presence of Mandal Education Officer Ramakrishna,” said Ganga Narasaiah, a local youth working as a private teacher in Bheemgal.

Taking cue from Babanagar, residents of two neighbouring villages -- Jagiryala and Mendora -- are also determined to admit children only in government schools from the current academic year. “The decision was taken with the concurrence of all residents and in the presence of parents at the Zilla Parishad High School,” sarpanch Gandla Rajeswar told The Hindu.

Villagers of Mendora are also happy with the decision. They want the school, in the village inhabited by 3,000 people, to be developed with all the necessary facilities. Meanwhile, it is learnt that this change has come in the villages as the government is planning to introduce English medium in all schools.

Three villages shun private schools

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