Why Mamata’s plan to run government schools on PPP model has backfired

Protests have erupted in West Bengal ever since the draft policy on public-private partnership (PPP) in school education got leaked

 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a press conference at Nabanna, in Howrah, on Feb. 21, 2022; (PTI Photo)

Romita Datta, India Today, Kolkata, March 8, 2022 :   The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, which has always been critical of the Centre’s privatisation moves, has landed itself in a quandary with the blueprint for a public-private partnership (PPP) model in school education in the state getting leaked last month. A draft policy, signed by principal secretary (education) Manish Jain, has been doing the rounds of the public.

Education minister Bratya Basu, on February 19, feigned ignorance about any such development but stopped short of issuing a firm denial. He said that such decisions can only be taken through debates and deliberations. The lack of a reassuring response from Basu has prompted angry citizens and political outfits to resort to protests. On February 18, Kolkata witnessed a massive procession by left-wing students’ outfits—the SFI (Students’ Federation of India) and DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India). Another protest is being planned in March as part of the CPI(M)’s ‘Nabanna Avijan’ (siege the state headquarters) programme.

Meanwhile, transport minister Firhad Hakim has stressed the need for beefing up infrastructure and raising the standards of education in Bengal. According to him, the Mamata Banerjee government intends to create space for more private educational institutions in the state for the overall benefit of students.

What the PPP Model Says

According to the ‘West Bengal Policies and Guidelines for Setting up Schools in Public-Private Partnership Mode, 2022’, private investment in the government education sector is needed for, among other things, enhancing the quality of education and creating “higher levels of intellectual abilities”. The state’s contribution in the PPP model would be in the form of providing land, infrastructure and school buildings. These can be transformed by the private players as they think appropriate.

The state government will only ensure that the investors are selected through transparent bidding and that they honour a certain percentage of reservation for students from the economically weaker sections. Otherwise, the private players will have complete autonomy about deciding the strength of students, teachers, board affiliations, fee structure and even salary of teachers. There’s also an indication that the investors will get to take a call on the process of recruiting teachers—whether it will be through the existing School Service Commission or something else.

The draft policy suggests that private players will get a free hand in tapping the “unused infrastructure” of schools. This is something school teachers’ associations in Bengal are wary of. They fear that the vast tracts of land available with the schools may be put to commercial use. Already, the technical education department has issued a notification to polytechnics and ITIs (industrial training institutes) to provide data on the total land available with them and how much of it was lying unused.

Fear of Misuse

Critics argue that giving such a free hand to investors is a violation of the basic principles of free and universal education envisaged by the Indian government. Education, they say, will become costlier for the poor and low-earning segments and will lead to dropouts. According to Tapan Kumar Ray, general secretary of the West Bengal Teachers’ Association, “The private players will make sure that the returns are several times their investment. Education will neither be free nor cheap. The government is asking for a certain percentage of the seats to be reserved for the poor, but will this cater to a vast majority of students who go to school because education is free and there’s the incentive of a free meal?” asks Ray.

While the Bengal government may cite the huge salary expenses of the 500,000 government teachers in the primary and secondary classes, Pyne argues that such things are factored in when finalising the education budget. In 2021-22, the budgetary provision for education in Bengal was Rs 41,000 crore—more than two and half times that of health and double that of rural development . After the Sixth Pay Commission, the pay structure of teachers has increased by 15-20 per cent, which has definitely added to the pressure on the state economy. Bengal’s fiscal situation is precarious with revenue generation drastically falling during the pandemic. The revenue deficit in 2021-22 is expected to be Rs 26,755 crore (1.77 per cent of GSDP). Educationists, however, argue that precarious finances cannot be a reason for the state government to privatise education. As it is, the government has not filled up some 200,000 teaching vacancies in schools over the past five-six years. “They are making do with teachers on contractual service at lower allowances,” says Pyne.

Opposition parties in Bengal have vowed to fight the privatisation drive and are planning a series of demonstrations in the days to come. But the Mamata government, for the moment, appears to have chosen to respond with utter silence.

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Courtesy & source