WB's 'Cluster Of School' Plan: Last Ditch Effort To Save State Schools Or Cost-Cutting Exercise?

The West Bengal government has recently introduced a new concept of a ¡°learning hub¡± or a ¡°cluster of schools¡± in the state, with a unique idea of the same teachers catering to the students of a number of schools within the same cluster or hub.

A total of 60 such learning hubs scattered over six districts of West Bengal have already been set up and the application of the new system has started in some of them.

This initiative also brings out India's problem of plenty regarding schools: District Information System for Education (DISE) data reveals that almost 4 percent of children attend single-teacher schools and this rises to close to 7 percent if we look at primary schools alone.

However, questions are being raised about the real intention of the WB state government in setting up of these ¡°learning hubs¡± or ¡°clusters of schools.¡±

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What is the state government's initiative behind the ¡°cluster of schools¡± initiative?

The state government's aim behind introduction of the learning hub or the cluster of schools initiative is protecting the existence of those state-run or state-aided schools whose numerical strength of either the students or the teachers has hit rock bottom by bringing them under a single cluster.

Another reason is to attach such smaller state-run or state-aided schools as satellites of bigger schools, so that the smaller schools can benefit from the teaching imparted by the teachers from the bigger schools.

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How do academicians feel about the "cluster of schools¡± initiative?

A section of academicians feel that this concept is a good idea, through which the existence of once-iconic institutions, which have lost their popularity and charm over the years, can be kept alive.

There are some who believe that the system of ¡°learning hubs,¡± or ¡°cluster of schools¡± is a time-tested and successful model not only in certain states in India but also in a number of Latin American countries.

However, others feel that the real reason behind encouraging the ¡°learning hubs,¡± is economical or a cost-cutting exercise.

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In fact, they point out that in Latin American countries too, this model was introduced with the intention of cost cutting by bringing the facilities, infrastructure and faculty under one umbrella.

This section also believes that the real intention behind introducing the ¡°cluster of schools¡± is to drastically cut down the recruitment of teachers in this high employment generating sector, as a single teacher of a particular subject catering to students of multiple schools in the same subject will automatically cut the requirement of recruiting multiple teachers for the same subject.

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