Mumbai: Expressing concern over the poor quality of education imparted in schools across Maharashtra, Chief Secretary J S Saharia advocated a close partnership between the government and private sector to arrest its declining standard.
'You will be surprised to know that out of 1,00,000 schools in Maharashtra, nearly 30 percent belong to the private sector, and they are grappling with the problems of their own sector....problems created by them,' he said.
Saharia was speaking at a conference organised by the Observer Research Foundation here yesterday which came out with a report pertaining to 'What India can learn from Israel in the field of Education'.
He blamed the decline in the quality of education to the mindset that treat learning institutions as a means to make money.
'Previously, education was imparted from the heart. People who opened these education institutions were really committed to their work. They never looked at it as a profit making institution,' the CS said.
Sunil Dhamane, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, who was also present at the event said the civic body is taking initiatives to convert vernacular medium into semi-English schools in order to facilitate larger number of admissions in municipal schools.
Some of the methods adopted by Israel in the field of education include 'Learning by doing' wherein a practical and a problem solving approach to learning is followed.
Besides, children's curiosity is nurtured and their enthusiasm to try new things is encouraged without any stigma of failure.
