Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Tuesday said education department officials should be required to send their children to government schools, arguing that this would force the system to improve. He also criticised the Maharashtra government for failing to provide transport facilities to students in rural and remote areas.
Dipke said Ministers and politicians should send their children to village schools for at least a day and make them walk the same distances as rural students. His argument puts the focus on a familiar gap in public services: those responsible for running the system often do not have to depend on it themselves.
Make Officials Experience Govt Schools
Speaking to reporters at Limbala in his native Hingoli district, Dipke said making government schools compulsory for the children of education officials would bring about a drastic improvement.
"It is their job to run government schools in a proper way, seeing that teachers are available. Their kids study in private schools, and they are not doing their duty. It should be made mandatory for the children of these officials to study in government schools," he said.
Dipke last week launched the School Thik Karo (improve schools) campaign. Earlier, he had posted a video of the headmaster of a Zilla Parishad school in the village who allegedly drank and slept in class. Authorities suspended the teacher on Tuesday.
Dipke, however, said he would not leave the village until a new teacher replaced the suspended headmaster.
"This school requires four teachers. They have only two, so two more should be provided. I am also going to visit four to five other schools in the coming days," he said.
Villagers' Complaints Went Unheard
According to Dipke, villagers had demanded the removal of the headmaster two years ago, but education department officials did not act.
"Action should also be taken against these officials. If the daughter of an education officer sees a teacher drinking country liquor and sleeping in front of her, will these officials tolerate it?" he asked.
His criticism extends beyond the conduct of an individual teacher to the officials responsible for ensuring that schools have adequate staff and function properly. Dipke claimed officials would pay greater attention to government schools if their own children studied in them, PTI reports.
He said people were increasingly questioning political leaders because they were concerned about education and employment opportunities for their children.
"People are now asking questions because they are concerned about education and jobs for their children. They have risen above the politics of caste and religion," Dipke said, adding that people would not vote for political leaders if they failed to improve government schools.
Hingoli Lok Sabha Contest?
Asked about speculation that he was preparing to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Hingoli seat, Dipke avoided giving a direct answer.
"If the government repairs all government schools, there will be no issue left for Abhijeet Dipke to contest Lok Sabha elections on," he said.
Dipke claimed some people did not want government schools to improve because better education for poor children would make it harder for the next generation of present-day political leaders to win elections.
Earlier in the day, Dipke participated in a protest in Hingoli over school-related issues.
Buses For Rallies, None For Students
Dipke criticised political leaders for arranging buses and trains to transport supporters to election rallies while, he said, failing to provide even a single bus for poor students.
He said political debate over the past decade had divided people along caste and religious lines while basic concerns such as education and employment remained unaddressed.
According to Dipke, children in remote areas often have to walk seven to 10 kilometres to reach school, particularly during the monsoon, when roads become muddy and waterlogged. The situation, he argued, shows why policymakers need direct exposure to the difficulties rural students face.
"Ministers, MLAs and MPs should send their children to village schools for one day and make them walk to school like village children do. Then they will understand what village children face," Dipke said.
'Same Value As Minister's Child'
"The life of a tribal child should have the same value as that of a minister's child," Dipke said, adding that politicians' children go to America for education.
"I studied at the same place where their children studied," said Dipke, who was studying at Boston University before returning to India in June to lead the CJP's agitation over the NEET paper leak.
Dipke said his own experience of watching his siblings walk to school was one of the reasons he launched the campaign from his home district.
"My sisters used to walk to school. I have seen my brothers walking to school. Even after 15 years, the situation has not changed," he said.
Dipke said the campaign was not directed against village-level officials, including sarpanches, and indicated that villagers would take matters into their own hands if the government failed to improve the situation.
"If the government cannot do it, we will do it with the help of villagers," he said.
