FPJ-Ed: Revised policy on night schools to be issued soon, new committee set up by Education Department

A new policy will be implemented shortly for the state's night schools, which have been in crisis in recent years. A committee has been formed, chaired by School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, and a government regulation(GR) has also been issued.

The committee set up by the Education Department will be chaired by School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad and State Minister for Education Bachchu Kadu.

MLA Vikram Kale, Kapil Patil, Vilas Potnis, JD Asgaonkar, Chief Secretary Vandana Krishna, Education Commissioner Vishal Solanki, School Education Joint Secretary Imtiaz Qazi are members of the committee.

According to a government regulation released on May 17, 2017, full-time teachers working in private, aided, or unaided schools will not be permitted to work at night schools on a part-time basis, teachers would be required to work either during the day or at night to devote their whole focus to the students.

A night school teacher who wishes to remain anonymous said, "Students attendance is really low, and the pandemic has even worsened. Part-time and additional teachers are hired, and as a result of this choice, it is difficult for night school students to find subject-matter experts."

The teacher added, "There are other issues as well; we teachers are not permitted to work at other places such as private institutions or daytime schools, and our pay is only part-time, which is insufficient to support a family. No additional security as other employees is even provided."

The GR concerning the service problems of night school teaching and non-teaching employees has been released. However, several aspects of the GR dated 17.5.2017 were found to be inconsistent, and the committee will revisit the issue. As a result, the Education Department has formed a committee to reconsider this decision and come up with a perfect policy for night schools over the next eight weeks.

As per the data provided by the Education Department in Mumbai, there are 136-night schools and around 500 teachers in the city committed to the same. Night schools run during the evening between 6 pm to 10 pm. During the pandemic, every class was shifted online.

Varsha Gaikwad in her tweet said, "considering the current situation, there was a demand from various quarters for a new policy on night schools. For this high-level committee has been set up under my chairmanship."

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