WHAT IS the state of affairs in primary education in Mumbai? Nothing to cheer about.

Basically, there are two kinds of institutions which share this responsibility on behalf of the state. First, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which directly runs primary schools. Second, there are primary schools run by private trusts. These are recognised by the BMC, run with or without aid from it.

The trusts provide primary education as a social responsibility. In that they carry a great burden in helping the BMC to bring quality education to the masses.

The Constitution mandates under Article 45 of Directive Principles that the state provide free and compulsory education to all children below the age of 14 within ten years. Though 58 years have passed since the Constitution was adopted, the directive principle remains unimplemented. The Government of India has come out with the Sarva Shikshan Abhiyan (SSA) to implement the Directive Principle in question. Yet success is nowhere in sight. This only emphasises the continued significance of private trusts in providing access to education to the young.

But, going by the attitude of the bureaucracy, it would seem that the BMC regards private trusts as intruding on its turf. Its acts of commission and omission have hindered the working of private trusts in the field of primary education. The BMC practices blatant discrimination against private primary schools.

The first and the most glaring discrimination is in the matter of fees in aided private primary schools. These school are forced to collect fees because they get insufficient aid. This is in violation of the Constitutional directive of "free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years."

There is absolutely no doubt that parents, if they can afford it, would send their children to private aided schools. It is simply because private aided and unaided schools are better managed than BMC-run schools.

To attract children to municipal schools, the BMC offers children free milk in tetra packs. But its inability to manage the programme is borne out by the recent incident of children being hospitalised after drinking free milk.Again, free milk is not extended to children attending aided private primary schools.. In private schools teachers normally follow the rule of tasting the food before it is served to children.

Second, teachers in aided private pri mary schools are not paid on par with teachers in BMC schools, even if their salary is paid directly by the BMC. The scales of teachers in BMC schools were re- vised in 2000 and again in 2005. Private pri- mary school teachers' scales were revised in 2000 but implemented only in 2005. And there are no signs of their being given the arrears by the BMC. As a result, teachers in aided schools are a dissatisfied lot: they perform better than BMC teachers but take home a much smaller salary.

Teachers and the management of private schools become, financially speaking, losers in another sense too. The BMC wants private schools to reimburse to the BMC account one-twelfth of the total fees collectable-irrespective of whether the fees are actually paid by the students. Since all students in these schools are not necessarily able to pay the fees at all or pay on time, the management is forced to pay from its resources the difference.

Third, the management of aided private primary schools, are not paid rent. Generally, management would use the rent re ceived from the BMC to attend to urgent repairs and maintenance of the school building. But if the educational trust manages a secondary section in the school building, the state government would take vicarious pleasure in denying the rent to classrooms used by the primary classes on the assumption that the BMC would have given the rent.

Fourth, the BMC does not give private aided schools any maintenance grant. Since they give the salary of teachers, BMC officials perhaps think that they have done their bit. Management is told in as many words: "Giving salaries to teachers is a big deal, manage the rest!"

All these are clear indications that BMC does not appreciate the role played by private managements in running schools. In the absence of these schools, the public would have been left to the not too tender mercies of the municipal schools. It does seem like the government wants to shut them down.

All this despite the fact that the BMC and the state collect grants from the Central Government. Recently, the Centre has released Rs. 9,359 crore under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

But the state seems to be using the grant to replace its own contribution. In other words, the very purpose for which the fund was created is defeated. I hope MLAs would raise the issue of discrimination in the use of SSA money by the state and the BMC in relation to aided primary schools.

P.M.Kamath heads a charity trust school inMumbai

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