Maharashtra state government has denied approval to about 4,000 new Marathi schools.

Maharashtra state government has denied approval to about 4,000 new Marathi schools.

The future of hundreds of students from Marathi medium schools is now in a predicament, as the state government has denied approval to about 4,000 new Marathi schools. The schools that have been denied permission include those that sought approval for extension to upper primary classes. As of now, at least 100 schools are already running classes without any recognition from the state government. Parents and activists from across the state met on Sunday to find a solution to the problem. Milind Wagh, secretary of the Forum against Commercialisation of Education, said: "The lives of several students are in jeopardy as the state government has denied the approval. Some schools, which had sought approval for extension from primary to upper primary classes, were already holding classes for upper primary children. There are at least 100 such schools that are running the upper primary classes without any recognition. When the students from these schools move to higher classes or even when they reach SSC, they will face problems. We are planning to take up the matter with the government." The state government has decided not to allow new Marathi medium schools in the city, until they come up with a policy to regulate them. "The main reason for denying permissions is that the state government does not wish to provide aid to schools. If a similar case had happened in Tamil Nadu, people would have protested and ensured such a decision was never taken.," said Wagh. Recently, an Aurangabad bench of the high court even ordered the state not to have a blanket ban on all Marathi schools and had directed the government to consider it case by case. The meeting of parents and activists was attended by representatives of various school forums across the state. State president of the forum, Vivek Korde, also attended the meet. Source: DNA