Rail staff oppose move to down schools

Approximately 3,000 students, 200 teachers and 50 non-teaching staff from the selected schools will be affected by the closure. 

The personnel department of Southern Railway (SR) issued a circular to managers of Chennai, Palakkad, Madurai, Trichy and Salem railway divisions on Monday, advising them to stop admitting students in railway schools under its jurisdiction. 

The circular also asked officials to sensitise parents of railway and non-railway wards through Parents Teachers Associations to shift them to other schools for the next academic year. 

Leader of CPI(M) backed DREU (Dakshin Railway Employees Union) Elango said that the move came along the lines of Bibek Debroy committee, which had recommended closure of schools and outsourcing of freight services and maintenance by railways. “Closure of schools is a well thought out plan,” said Elango. “It will be followed by outsourcing of freight operations, which includes private loco pilots as per the committee recommendations. The BJP regime intends to divest everything. After stopping admission and closing down the schools, the government might ‘gift’ the land to some corporate firm,” he claimed. 

A railway employee whose children study in one such school said, “Given the fee structure of private schools, railway schools were our only option, especially to lower grade employees like me who cannot afford to pay exorbitant fees for quality education run by private schools.”

“Now, we must borrow money to admit our children in private schools. Government will only reimburse the tuition. What about the rest, which account for most of the fee in private schools,” added the staff attached to the signal department of Chennai division.

Railways has already planned to absorb the teachers and non-teaching staff, numbering 200 and 50 respectively, in other departments. The circular to close the schools has been issued only after it prepared plans to distribute the school staff.