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Mumbai: If all goes according to plan, children in Mumbai can go to International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge Board (IGCSE) affiliated public schools at no cost from June next year.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wants to affiliate BMC schools with two international boards, now called Mumbai Public Schools.
“We have started discussions on this and plan to have one school per ward and have these boards from nursery to class 10,” BMC education officer Raju Tadvi told ThePrint.
Currently, discussions with the Cambridge Board are at an advanced stage, an official of the BMC Education Department associated with the project, said on condition of anonymity.
This is the dream project of cabinet minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and he is personally negotiating with these boards along with BMC officials.
In mid-November, Thackeray held discussions with Ani Mikhailidou, head of global engagement for the Cambridge Partnership for Education. Academics and expert Francis Joseph is also active in linking Cambridge with BMC.
advancing the agenda of being @cambridgepfe board in @mybmc In schools, we met with Annie Michelidou to form a working group for education reforms at various levels in Maharashtra. am grateful @Francis_Joseph for their support on joining Cambridge @mybmc pic.twitter.com/jrUd6G28Qm
—Aditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) November 16, 2021
Now BMC has proposed for administrative approval. After getting this approval, it will be placed before the Education Committee of the House and after that work can start.
But an official with knowledge of the matter said that they are committed to start the school by June next year. The administration has also earmarked a location at Matunga near LK Waghji Municipal School. This will be a newly constructed building. It is planned to start from Nursery to Class V by June 2022.
The official said that as far as the IB board is concerned, talks are going on at a preliminary level within the BMC.
This morning, we interacted with the IB Board @ Organization for its PYP, MYP, DP programs @mybmc School.
We want our students to have the options of SSC, CBSE, ICSE, Cambridge and IB to ensure quality and equity in education.
(1/n)—Aditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) December 17, 2021
CBSE, ICSE schools have already opened
BMC has already started 11 Central Board of Secondary Education affiliated schools and one Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) school, which is not affiliated yet.
Our 11 Mumbai Public Schools of BMC have got CBSE Affiliation. This news is really amazing as it further strengthens our dream of providing quality education in BMC schools. pic.twitter.com/Cpz43lPvzw
—Aditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) December 15, 2021
Domestic help Jayshree Dhangar has admitted her two daughters – Meenakshi in the first and Neha in the sixth – to Woolen Mill Mumbai Public School in Mahim area. It is the only municipal school affiliated to the CICSE board in the city and the first of its kind in the country.
Both her daughters were in a school recognized by the state board, but Jayashree, who hails from a village in Karnataka, wanted her children to study in a competitive board.
Dhangar said, “I haven’t studied much, but I want my children to get a good education, so he admitted them to this school.” She said, “I don’t even know English but now my kids teach me what their teachers teach them.”
The general belief is that municipal schools cater only to students from lower economic backgrounds. But with the involvement of CBSE and ICSE schools, it may break.
Riddhi Salve who is a housewife has a son, Hrishikesh Salve, who is in class VI. He was earlier studying in a private school at Saraswati Vidyamandir, Mahim, affiliated to CBSE, but got admitted to a woolen mill in March last year before the lockdown.
“I have only one son and it was a question mark before us whether to send the only child to this school. There were a lot of questions about switching from private to government school. But then after talking to the principal, I thought let’s take a year’s chance and if it doesn’t go well, we will back down,” Riddhi Salve said.
But now Salve is very happy and does not want to go back to private school.
Smita Kurlikar, who has two children in school, one in sixth grade and another in class, is also happy. She said that apart from other expenses like books, stationery, notebooks, handkerchiefs, the fees of private school are in the range of Rs 60,000-65,000 per annum, which cost Rs 5,000-6,000. All this is free in government school.
“My only fear was initially as this is a BMC school whether the teachers will teach regularly or not, but since the pandemic I am seeing how classes are being conducted every day and nothing more, due to network issues. Despite this no part is left untouched and other problems,” Kurlikar said.
Parents ThePrint told ThePrint that the teachers are highly trained and put extra effort into making each student understand the topic, even if it means taking extra tuition and paying attention one by one. He said the teachers are ensuring every student from any background – from various boards like state board and CBSE – who are finding it difficult to cope with studies, are on the same page.
Rebranding of Municipality Schools
In February 2020, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray along with son and cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray revealed the new identity of BMC Schools – Mumbai Public School.
In the same year, BMC sought affiliation from CBSE and ICSE boards in Mumbai for a total of 12 schools. Ten buildings were renovated while two old buildings were renovated.
Education Officer Raju Tadvi said that out of the annual education budget of Rs 2900 crore, Rs 170 crore has been spent on these schools. Tadvi said, “The entire education cost is being borne by BMC and we provide free quality education to all the students.”
So, he said, this year these schools received about 10,000 applications for 4,000 seats for these 12 schools, more than about 2,000 people who inquired personally. Therefore, a lottery system determined the admission.
At present, the ratio is 40 students per teacher for each class and there is only one division per standard.
As for teachers to apply for these boards, Deputy Education Officer Sangeeta Tere said there were four panels, each with three members – two board members and one BMC member – to oversee the process. Teachers were appointed only after written test, interview and group discussion.
Now with more international boards coming in too, parents are happy. “This is a golden opportunity given by the government and we are very happy,” Salve said.
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