A'Reform' Is Rolled Back

Just days before the new academic session was to begin in Gujarat, the state government made a sur­prise retreat. It scrapped the ambi­tious and controversial plan it had drawn up to launch special schools for meritorious students—called Gyan Setu Day Schools.

- Jumana Shah

In its stead, it announced a new scholar­ ship scheme by the same name, admittedly a scaling down of am­bition. The Mukhyamantri Gyan Setu Merit Scholarships, aiming to benefit 30,000 meritorious students in Classes 6­12, will cost the state exchequer Rs 500 crore annually once student beneficia­ ries are identified across classes over the next seven years. Students should have completed their lower primary education (Classes 1­5) from government or grant­in­aid (GIA) schools to be eligible for the scholarship. The choice of school has been left to them. That means they are free to continue in the same school or take admission in a private school—though the terms change significantly in that case.

In stark contrast, the previous policy planned to move meritori­ ous students, after Class 5, from government and GIA schools to new bilingual­medium Gyan Setu Day Schools. They were to get free education till Class 12, with the focus on preparing them for com­petitive examinations. Four hun­ dred such schools were envisioned, at least one in each taluka. Even exist­ ing private schools could apply. They were to receive Rs 20,000 per child annually from the government, with a budget of Rs 64 crore earmarked for 2023­24. The education department even conducted an entrance test on April 27, in which 465,000 Class 5 students appeared.