"Don't Bring Mobs Into Schools": Mohandas Pai On CJP's School Inspections

Aarin Capital chairman Mohandas Pai has criticised the way the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) is carrying out its "School Thik Karo" (improve government schools) campaign.

In an interview with NDTV, Pai said government school education in India needed major reforms, but argued that bringing large groups of people into schools was not the right way to bring change.

#TheBuckStopsHere with @PadmajaJoshi

"Don't be partisan. If you are true to what you say, go to Punjab, come to Karnataka, come to Kerala, go to Tamil Nadu, get two hundred thousand volunteers, create a mass mobilisation force, do it the right way, and start a movement to… pic.twitter.com/32p9pb1QnK

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His comments came after CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke and other volunteers carried out a surprise inspection of a government-run school in Maharashtra. Dipke and his associates entered the school without permission, sat among students and asked them various questions.

"I like young people taking interest in school education. It's a broken system, and we need reforms," Pai said. However, he added that such efforts must be carried out in a "right way" and without creating an unsafe environment for children.

"You find a mob of 200 people, 50 people come in and question the headmaster, question the children. Would you like it? You don't like it. You're dealing with small children. And children have to have a safe, secure environment," he said.

Pai further stated, "You can't just barge into a school just because you think that you are entitled to do it and say, 'I'm going to question you', and humiliate the headmaster. You can't do all that. There's a mode of behaviour that we must have people do."

Pai said he was not against the campaign itself but disagreed with the way it was being carried out.

He said the poor condition of government schools is already well known and has been documented in several reports. He suggested that two or three volunteers should visit schools, take photographs, prepare detailed reports and use the data to demand action.

According to Pai, India has around 18 lakh schools and about 24 crore schoolchildren. He said the focus should be on improving infrastructure and education across all government schools rather than creating publicity around a few institutions.

Pai also pointed to issues such as teacher shortages, one-teacher schools and falling enrollment in government schools. He suggested that the campaign should work for at least two years to collect data across states. 

If governments still fail to act, he said activists could approach the courts and seek legal intervention.

Pai also urged the group to inspect schools across the country instead of focusing on selected states. He said they should visit places such as Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu if they genuinely want to improve government schools.

"Civic activism of the right kind is good, but not like this," Pai said. He stressed that the goal should be to improve government schools for all children, rather than improving a few schools for publicity.