Visakhapatnam: Adivasi leaders in the Visakhapatnam Agency have opposed implementation of the new education policy brought forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
The policy brings about many reforms in education. Among these, the 10+2 will be replaced by 5+3+3+4, which includes three years of Anganwadi and pre-schooling.
The district convener of the joint action committee of adivasi unions and federations, Rama Rao Dora, said that as per the new policy, the primary schools would be closed and merged with upper primary schools or high schools. The first three classes would be attached to the Anganwadi centres and the remaining two classes would be merged with UP schools.
Dora said some 60 per cent of the students in primary schools would drop out as they would have to travel more than five km every day to reach their new schools. Young children would have to trek over hazardous hills to their schools.
“If the primary school is closed in our village in Kirtada in Pedabayalu mandal, students would have to climb the mountains to reach the nearest UP school by covering a distance of five km,’’ Dora said.
The agency has 2,200 schools that include 150 high schools, 60 UP schools, 1990 primary schools and 134 residential high schools.
“The proposals are under discussion and there is no clarity. As per the initial proposals, we are planning to locate a school for the fourth and fifth class students some km away,’’ said district educational officer B. Lingeswara Reddy.
