Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Prime accused Ambadas Mankape is cooling his heels in Harsul Jail due to the Adarsh Mahila Bank scam. As a result, the financially troubled Adarsh English School in Phulambri has been shut down. This has impacted poor students admitted under the RTE (Right to Education) Act. Hence, on Friday, parents of these students submitted a memorandum to the Zilla Parishad’s education officer (primary) Jaishree Chavan, demanding that their children be accommodated in nearby English medium schools.
According to the memorandum submitted by the students' parents, the principal decided to close the school for the academic year 2024-25 after Mankape was jailed. This decision has created difficulties for students who were admitted under the RTE Act. The parents of these students come from poor families and cannot afford the high annual fees of other English medium schools. Since these children have been studying in English medium, they lack proficiency in Marathi. Transferring them to Marathi medium schools would be academically inappropriate, stated the parents in the memorandum.
They demanded that the RTE-admitted students be accommodated in English medium schools such as Shantiniketan and Oasis in Phulambri. After the closure of Kids Pride School in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the education department issued a letter on April 25, 2023, arranging for the accommodation of those students. Therefore, a similar arrangement should be made for the students of Adarsh English School, the memorandum demanded. The delegation includes the president of the RTE Parents Association Prashant Sathe, parents Sharad Sonawane, Deepak Arak, Sachin Pagare, Ravindra Waikar, Ranganath Jadhav, Vikas Pagare, and others.
Closure of school due to heavy expenses
The headmaster of Adarsh English School (Phulambri) Satish Borse said, “Since last year, the school was facing financial difficulties. The building was rented, and the number of students was low. There was no money to pay the teachers' salaries. Therefore, the question of how to run the school arose, leading to its closure.”