By Rukmini SHRINIVASAN (Times of India, 25/01/06)

The state has finally ended the ?academic apartheid? which had seen schools having up to ten divisions dividing children on the basis of their marks. Extra coaching is usually given to A division students, especially in Std X. Students with lower marks are given fewer opportunities to participate in sports and other extra-curricular activities.

In a government resolution (GR) signed on Tuesday the school education and sports department has asked all schools in the state to ensure that students are not assigned divisions on the basis of their marks during admission or while being promoted to the next class. Schools are to ensure that a disproportionate number of students having high marks don?t end up in any one division. ?Children should be given the opportunity to take part in activities on the basis of equality and equal opportunity,? the GR says.

Schools are also to ensure that all optional subjects, including the high-scoring Sanskrit, are offered to all students and not only those in one division. Many schools in the state-offer Sanskrit only to students with high marks, leading academicians to note that the situation is not different from ancient times in which only high caste children had access to Sanskrit. If schools have any difficulty in implementing this, they are to discuss it with education department officials and the school?s parent-teacher body.

The rule applies to all government-recognised primary, secondary and higher secondary institutions and is final and binding.

The GR is the result of a sustained campaign in Mumbai by the Parent-Teacher Association United Forum (PTAUF), the Counsellors Association of India (CAI) and the Department of Psychology, SNDT University, to bring this practice to an end, supported by some proactive government officials. The two groups had filed a case against several city schools, including the Indian Education Society (IES) group of schools and Balmohan Vidya Mandir, Dadar, with the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MHRC). They presented dozens of affidavits written by young people who had been victims of segregation and who had been scarred for life by the experience. The MHRC directed the state to frame guidelines to end this practice.

Recently, IES decided to end this system, which it had been following for decades, and assigned all students division alphabetically. ?The students in ?A? division were not only academically brighter but also richer and belonged to a higher caste. It was a caste system of a different sort,? admitted V. K. Sinha, member of IES? governing council and chairperson of IES? educational and counselling committees. Balmohan?s English medium principal did not want to comment and the Marathi medium principal was unavailable.

?This is a great move which will ensure that children who our education system considers less intelligent will get to study in a mixed group,? said actor Renuka Shahane who has been a victim of segregation and spoken out against it. ?It will also make teachers considerate about all students.?

?It?s a great day for students and for education,? said PTAUF president Arundhati Chavan. ?Segregation destroys a child?s self-esteem and the label remains with him or her for life,? she added, stating that the government should now closely monitor the implementation of its directive. ?It?s a victory for the kid,? said CAI president Dr Harish Shetty.

?We will work with schools and conduct workshops to help them with this paradigm shift,? he added. Both Chavan and Dr Shetty said the Mumbai education department had played a major role in bringing about the historic change.