Subject: HSTP Dharna at Bhopal

COME TO BHOPAL

AUGUST 4, 2002 (SUNDAY)

EDUCATIONAL DHARNA AT BHOPAL

"PADHAI KE LIYE LADAI"

To voice our concern and to protest against the insensitive and regressive actions of the government we plan to hold a day-long dharna at Tin Shed (New Market) in Bhopal on Sunday, August 4, 2002. The theme of the dharna will be 'Padhai ke liye ladai' (The Fight for Education).

Dear Friend,

As you are aware, the Government of Madhya Pradesh, acting in response to a decision taken by the Hoshangabad District Planning Committee, has passed an executive order closing down the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP) in Hoshangabad district. Although the government says the programme continues to be in operation in all the middle schools of Harda district and selected school complexes in 13 other districts, the situation is so confusing that local officials in several of these districts have taken unilateral action in closing down the programme in their areas.

We have conveyed to the government our anguish and distress over the unethical and shoddy manner in which it has taken this unprecedented step. We have also registered our protest against this retrogressive move that has cut the ground from under a pioneering effort in science education that has been the focus of attention the world over. We have pointed out that it is not proper to judge the programme as a failure on the basis of a sketchy assessment conducted at the bureaucratic level and have urged that a more balanced review be undertaken by an expert committee set up by the State Advisory Board on Education. Several independent assessments of the learning outcomes of children fly in the face of the government findings and show the programme in a favourable light. An expert committee set up by the NCERT had, in fact, recommended the expansion of the programme over the entire state as far back as 1991.

The closure move indicates a shrinking of the space for voluntary initiatives in the government education system. We have constantly reiterated the need for ensuring such space for civil society initiatives in the public domain as a basis for democratic functioning. We have also underlined the need for a plurality of approaches in education and repeatedly shown our willingness to work in collaboration with the government to improve the educational system through innovative curricular programmes.

However, the government has negated this long and fruitful association by relegating us to the position of a tenant who is now trying to take over the entire house (the school education system). It has termed this tenancy as illegitimate. Those are the words in which the education department has referred to Eklavya in its assessment report. Such language reflects the narrow and feudalistic mindset of the government vis-à-vis voluntary agencies.

We feel it is necessary to fight such feudal and dictatorial attitudes to ensure that Eklavya and other groups with a social conscience continue to enjoy the freedom to contribute to the progress and development of the nation. To voice our concern and to protest against the insensitive and regressive actions of the government we plan to hold a day-long dharna at Tin Shed (New Market) in Bhopal on Sunday, August 4, 2002. The theme of the dharna will be 'Padhai ke liye ladai' (The Fight for Education).

A similar but smaller dharna will be held at Hoshangabad on August 3, 2002 (Saturday) from 4.00 to 7.00 PM. We would urge you, as a concerned citizen who shares the spirit of Eklavya's work, to make it possible to join us in this dharna at Bhopal (if possible in Hoshangabad too) to register your protest against this strangulation of the freedom to contribute to a national effort by civil society groups. Do also send a letter or e-mail (if you have not already done so) of protest to the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh urging a review of its hasty and ill-considered decision to close the science teaching. Do forward this email to others as we might not be able to reach everybody. You can also take a printout and use it as an invitation letter for circulation.

In solidarity, we remain

Yours sincerely,

Kamal, Rex, Rashmi, Subbu, Rajesh and all others at Eklavya