Mumbai: After 7 years, BMC pushes for schools’ privatisation again

Land at Topiwala Lane, Grant Road. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to open up land for schools to be developed by private parties - a proposal rejected thrice earlier.

This time, it's serious: EOIs (Expressions of Interest) are being invited after the state government greenlit the proposal in 2023. The plan, which was previously rejected in 2012 and then in 2017-18, is to hand over some of its municipal school properties to private organisations under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Vacant land at Kumbharwada, Marine Lines

Why is a plan rejected three times across party lines being brought back now? To understand this policy revival and to dive deeper into what it could mean for public education in Mumbai, Sunday mid-day spoke to civic officials, educationists, and other key stakeholders.

What's happening

This time the BMC decided to give reserved plots to private parties who are working in the education field, to build and run the school.

However, education experts claim this is a move towards making the education system a paid one.

A former officer of the civic education department said that the earlier proposals were for running the BMC school building, and faced opposition. But now the education department has decided to give land reserved for schools to private parties. "This reservation can't change," he added.

Multiple rejections

The PPP model for civic schools was first tabled in 2012 but faced strong opposition from elected corporators across political parties. The proposal was tabled again in 2017, and at that time the aim was to restart 35 municipal schools, most of them vernacular medium, which had been shut down due to dwindling enrolment. The idea was to revive these as English-medium schools, entirely managed by private entities. However, the education committee rejected the plan.

"There were serious concerns about exclusion," a former corporator told this reporter, requesting anonymity. "One of the criteria required private organisations to have an annual turnover of R 5 crore. This was seen as shutting the door on smaller NGOs and trusts which had experience but not financial muscle."

Other corporators then, including former Shiv Sena leaders Sheetal Mhatre and Snehal Ambekar, demanded more transparency and oversight. A major sticking point was the absence of a scrutiny committee, which the then councillors demanded, comprising the Mayor and Standing Committee Chairperson.

Despite some support from within the civic body, such as then-NCP corporator Dr Saeeda Khan and Rajpati Yadav of the Congress, the proposal was shelved after its third rejection in June 2018.

Sushil Shejule; Heramb Kulkarni, educationist and Dr Amit Saini, Additional Municipal Commissioner

Why now?

While the state government policy of 2023 mentions adoption of the school, the BMC has decided to give seven land parcels which are reserved for education purposes, and which will be used only for school. These schools will be run by private parties for 30 years.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Amit Saini says, "We are giving school land, not school buildings, to the private parties. These parties will run a school for 30 years, with 25 per cent of seats reserved for RTE admission."

According to the proposal, the selected party can run any medium and any boarding school like HSC, CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE, or IB, and the BMC will not put any restrictions on the fees, although the school administration will be expected to follow government norms about fees. The BMC is expected to earn revenue from the scheme, with minor revenue sharing of 3 to 10 per cent every year.

However, critics point out that if this were simply about outcomes, the BMC would invest in training, infrastructure, and governance reform - areas that remain underfunded.

Concerns resurface

The planned revival of the project has drawn sharp responses from educationists and rights activists. Many argue that introducing private players into civic education could deepen inequalities. Although some educationists argue that this may improve infrastructure and pedagogy in BMC schools, many of which suffer from low enrolment and poor learning outcomes, they also fear that privatisation would lead to high fees and kill the free education that civic-run schools provided.

Activists, on the other hand, fear this could be the back door to full privatisation and exclusion of underprivileged children.

Teachers' unions have also expressed concern about job security and the fate of non-teaching staff, while parent groups worry that access to free, quality education could be compromised in the name of efficiency.

Activists, parents worried

Basanti Roy, former Division Secretary of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education, Mumbai division, said, "I can see this as a move towards paid education. If the BMC is not ready to give free education, then who will give it? If the BMC takes this step because they are not getting students, then how can private schools get students? The BMC should question why, if Zilla Parishad schools are getting students, why not BMC schools?"

Arundhati Chavan, President of the Parent-Teacher Association United Forum, said, "What about free education? If a private party runs these schools, they will decide fees - there will be no control over the fees. It will be the opposite of free education. While BMC-run CBSE Board English medium schools are getting good responses from the parents, then why does BMC need private parties to run schools on public land," Chavan added.

"The first thing to understand here is the BMC's motive behind the school privatisation plan," said Heramb Kulkarni, a well-known activist and educationist. "Is it being done simply to save money from the civic coffers? If so, that would be a misguided move. The BMC should not withdraw funding from these schools and hand over complete control to private entities, whether by granting them land parcels or operational rights."

Moreover, Kulkarni added, the timeline for implementing a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model should be strictly limited to five years. "Extending it to 30 years risks creating monopolies. Renewals, if necessary, can be considered after five years," he said.

Marathi Study Centre member Sushil Shejule said, "The BMC needs to ensure that these private administrations don't turn education into a lucrative business. Marathi schools should be given priority and it is recommended that education in the mother tongue should be given priority in the new education policy as well."

BMC's defence

Sources in the BMC argue that the PPP model is a practical response to the crisis faced by civic education. A senior BMC education officer said, "We are not giving school buildings, we are giving land to private parties, which have excellent and bright experience in the field."

The BMC is expected to shortlist eligible private organisations by mid-2025. Construction of the schoold buildings is expected to take two to three years, and the schools will start functioning only after that.

How many? The numbers tell the story

1129
Schools run by BMC

7398
Number of teachers

3,28,348
Total students

Rs 60,000
Cost to the BMC per student per year