Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has called for putting an end to irregularities in the appointment of teachers in Tamil Nadu’s government schools.
In a statement, he said around 50% of students in the state study in government schools this year, but the number is steadily falling because the condition of many government schools is poor. He added that even low-income parents are taking loans to admit their children in private schools.
Vembu said a key issue is alleged corruption in government school teacher recruitment, which he described as an “open secret” for a long time. According to what he has been told, the prevailing practice involves paying an advance equivalent to about one year’s salary.
Recalling that he studied in a government-aided school, Vembu said the system must be strengthened. While expressing happiness about expanding his free school initiative, he stressed that government schools need to be made much stronger and that dedicated teachers in the system should be empowered.
He noted that infrastructure in government schools is good in some places and not as strong in others, but argued that recruitment flaws should be corrected first before taking up broader infrastructure improvements.
