Opposing the move to bring schools managed by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (ADTW) department under the purview of the Department of School Education (SE), the Tamil Nadu State Platform for Common School System (SPCSS) has sought Chief Minister MK Stalin’s intervention in the matter. The request has come a day after the Class 12 exam results were declared in Tamil Nadu, when the Directorate of Government Examinations declared that the pass percentage of Adi Dravidar Welfare (ADW) Schools stands at 86.16%. This is contrary to recent claims that the performance of ADW schools has been poor in comparison to schools under the SE department.
Presenting the Budget for 2023-24 on March 20, the then Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) had announced that all schools functioning under departments such as ADTW, Backward Class, Most Backward Class & Denotified Communities, Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE), and Forest would be brought under the SE department. It would also be ensured that the service conditions and benefits of teachers and staff presently working in these schools were protected, he added. The announcement led to protests by ADW school teachers, seeking a solution to their problem.
In its representation to the Chief Minister, the SPCSS termed the announcement unreasonable and alleged that the school education department was already discriminating against its own students, embracing the elite and leaving the commoners high and dry. The schools managed by the department are divided into three different categories — schools, schools of excellence, and model schools. The latter two get special attention, while the schools (plain, no special description and to which a majority are consigned) are left to fend for themselves. That is discrimination violating Article 14 of the Constitution, the SPCSS alleged, adding that the department “will do no justice to the depressed section of the society” in the circumstances.
It urged the state government to appoint adequate teaching and non-teaching faculties in ADW schools, and to provide equal facilities to all schools to ensure that Dalit and tribal students are also able to access quality education.
As long as oppression in the name of caste continues, the oppressed need protection and the right to live a life with dignity, the platform stressed. It also noted that as no steps were taken to inculcate the principle of “one man one value”, a much cherished vision of Dr BR Ambedkar, the proposal to bring ADW Schools under the SE department was “unjust” and also “unwarranted”.
Further stating that ADW schools require remedial measures to strengthen them and not a merger, the platform requested the CM to ensure that the funds allotted to the SC/ST welfare are fully utilised instead.
The SPCSS said that ADW schools have their own history, and it should not be allowed to be wiped out through an executive announcement. Founding leaders of the Dravidian Movement such as Ayothithasa Pandithar were instrumental in establishing such schools specifically for children born in Adi Dravidar Communities, it noted.
“ADW schools started to function in a society that followed highly discriminatory social practices called caste, and denied admission to children into schools just because they were born in the Adi Dravidar Community,” the platform said. It further alleged that the government held no prior discussion was held with the stakeholders before the merger announcement.
SPCSS general secretary PB Prince Gajendra Babu told TNM that though the memorandum has primarily highlighted how the ADW schools will be impacted by the merger, their voice also extends to the students of Tribal schools and Kallar Reclamation Schools. If this merger happens, those schools will also be affected, he added.