Former Rajya Sabha member and the CPI(M) leader P. Madhu on Sunday urged the State government to provide financial assistance to budget private schools, saying that the institutions were in dire straits due to the lockdown imposed in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing a meeting jointly organised by Andhra Pradesh Private Schools’ Association and Vijayawada Children’s Schools and Tutorials’ Association, Mr. Madhu urged the government to extend a monthly financial assistance of ₹10,000 to each staff member of private budget schools for the last six months. “The pandemic has delivered a blow on the private schools and it is time the government should bailed them out,” he said.
Pointing out that no new government schools has been established in the last 10 years, despite the increase in the population, the CPI(M) leader said if the government did not cater to the educational needs of the children, it should, at least, allow the private sector to do the same.
Unlike corporate educational institutions, Mr. Madhu said, these budget schools worked hard to impart education for a nominal fee and it was responsibility of the government to come to their rescue at this crucial juncture.
Former MLC and honorary chairman of the Vijayawada Schools and Tutorials’ Association Chigurupati Rajendra Prasad said many owners of these budget schools were finding it difficult to run the institutions in the aftermath of lockdown and that only concessions from the government and other assistance would help them revive the schools.
