THE state of school education in Chhattisgarh reveals a troubling situation with numerous vacancies and shortages. Over 3,000 schools are without principals, and there are 8,194 post of teachers, more than 22,000 assistant teacher posts, and 2,524 lecturer posts are vacant. Of the 56,333 government-run schools, more than 300 have no teachers at all, 5,500 schools are staffed by just one teacher, and 3,978 schools of various levels – primary, middle, high, and higher secondary – are functioning on the same campus.

The Constitution mandates that the government provide education to every school-age child within their residential area. To uphold this directive, it is essential to prioritise the construction of new school buildings and the filling of vacant teacher positions. However, it seems that such priorities are not on the agenda of the current BJP government. Each year, 10,000 to 15,000 teachers retire, and their positions are being quietly abolished without adequate replacement.

Rather than focusing on constructing new school buildings, renovating existing ones, and recruiting teachers, the BJP government has been pursuing a campaign to close schools and transfer teachers under the guise of rationalisation. This approach reflects the BJP's tendency to overlook the genuine challenges facing school education. The campaign has faced strong opposition from all teachers' organisations in the state, as well as from the Madhyanh Bhojan Majdoor Ekta Union (CITU).

Under the previous BJP rule, over 2,000 schools were closed under the pretext of rationalisation, predominantly affecting rural areas. This resulted in thousands of rural children being deprived of education, as the distance to other schools and gender discrimination particularly impacted girls. Now, under the current BJP rule, an additional 4,077 schools are set to close, with claims that fewer than 10 students are registered in these institutions. Consequently, more than 35,000 children are at risk of losing access to education, with the majority likely being from rural, tribal, and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Additionally, a large-scale transfer of teachers is underway, effectively turning transfers into a 'transfer industry.'

The impact of such rationalization will extend beyond children and teachers to include the workers who support these schools, such as those preparing mid-day meals and sanitation staff. These workers, who have long struggled with inadequate wages, rely on these jobs for their livelihoods. With the closure of these schools, over 12,000 mid-day meal and part-time sanitation workers will face unemployment, lacking alternative sources of permanent or regular income. Consequently, these workers may either swell the ranks of rural unemployed or migrate to cities in search of work, potentially becoming urban daily wage laborers.

Despite the BJP's 2023 election promise to increase the honorarium for mid-day meal workers by 50 per cent, no action has been taken in this regard even after 10 months. Instead, layoffs are happening. It is evident that the BJP government lacks a concrete agenda to safeguard the employment and livelihoods of these crucial workers.

Sameer Qureshi, patron of the Madhyanh Bhojan Majdoor Ekta Union (CITU), said that a memorandum has been submitted to the chief minister outlining the union's concerns. The memorandum calls for the cancellation of the rationalisation process, the regularisation of workers, and the payment of minimum wages. Qureshi also mentioned that CITU is mobilising a substantial movement by uniting parents, teachers, and villagers from the affected schools to address these issues.

Under the previous Congress rule, the Swami Atmanand Schools initiative aimed to establish centers of excellence in every block of the state, providing a viable alternative to private schools. This initiative attracted significant public interest. However, with the BJP now in power, there is a growing concern that these centers of excellence may face a slow and unannounced death. The current rule's lack of support has led to a shortage of adequate teachers and a growing deficiency in resources necessary for delivering quality education.

In government schools across the state, while education is provided free of charge, children in grades one through five are required to purchase extracurricular books from private publishers, costing an average of Rs. 1,000. Concerns have been raised about the quality of these books. The use of various private publishers' books in government schools suggests a troubling level of corruption similar to that seen in private schools.

In a state where 95 per cent of families have a monthly income of less than Rs 5,000, and where average purchasing power is Rs 2,446 for rural families and Rs 4,483 for urban families, this additional financial burden on parents is significant. This situation contributes to the educational exclusion of many students. A report released last year by ASER indicated that 13.6 per cent of children up to the age of 15 in Chhattisgarh are not attending school. The BJP government has yet to address why these children remain outside the educational system.

The ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) sheds light on the reading and writing abilities of school children. According to the report, only 52.7 per cent of Class V students in government schools can read a text at a Class II level, just 22.8 per cent can perform division, and only 11.3 per cent can read an English sentence. These concerning statistics for Class V students highlight the likely challenges faced by younger children. The dismal educational outcomes reflect the broader issues within the state’s school education system.

Rationalization also has a concerning side effect: as more government schools close, the door to the privatisation of education swings wider. A recent survey indicates that, over the past decade, closed government schools have often been replaced by RSS-affiliated institutions such as Saraswati Shishu Mandir. These schools promote a saffronised curriculum, utilising books prepared with an unscientific approach and emphasizing Hindutva, aiming to shape children into communal citizens. According to a government report, over 2,000 private schools have opened in the last ten years, with fee structures and curricula that remain beyond government regulation.

Today, the new education policy and the saffronisation of education are closely intertwined, with the BJP government's rationalization campaign being part of a broader agenda for privatisation and saffronisation. The experience in Madhya Pradesh illustrates this trend, where books authored by 88 RSS-affiliated writers, including Dinanath Batra, with their communal and casteist perspectives, have been incorporated into the school curriculum. Educational institutions have been mandated to purchase these books. A similar threat may soon affect schools in Chhattisgarh, as evidenced by recent developments at Ravi Shankar University, which has introduced courses in Falit Jyotish and Vastu Jyotish, signaling a move towards promoting superstitions.

Following strong opposition from teacher and labor organizations in Chhattisgarh, the BJP government's rationalisation drive has been temporarily suspended. However, the real battle lies against the broader agenda of privatisation and saffronisation being pursued under the guise of the new education policy. This agenda threatens to plunge the nation's educational system into the darkness of unscientific thinking and ignorance, fostering a mindset that takes pride in its lack of knowledge. Such a policy stands in direct contradiction to the constitution's mandate to establish a scientific and secular education system. Thus, the fight against the privatisation and saffronisation of education is fundamentally a battle to uphold the constitution. Chhattisgarh, along with the rest of the country, must join forces in this critical struggle.