Students, teachers protest against closure of Marathi-medium BMC schools

A delegation of protestors met BMC commissioner and submitted a memorandum, though detailed discussions could not be held.

Mumbai: More than 60 people, including teachers and students of schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), mobilised outside the BMC headquarters on Thursday morning to protest against the closure of Marathi-medium schools in the city. A delegation of protestors met BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and submitted a memorandum of demands, though detailed discussions could not be held as the model code of conduct is in force due to the upcoming civic polls, the BMC said in a statement in the evening.

BMC headquarters (Hindustan Times)

“We were told no decision can be taken now because the code of conduct is in force,” Deepak Pawar, a professor at the University of Mumbai and founder of the civil society group Marathi Abhyas Kendra which had organised the protest, told Hindustan Times.

“But we have been writing to the BMC for the last six months, before the code of conduct came into force. Our letters were ignored while redevelopment and closures continue. We will now write to the state government on the same,” said Pawar, who was part of the delegation that met Gagrani.

As reported by HT on Thursday, more than 100 Marathi-medium BMC schools have shut down in the past 10 years due to lack of students and teachers, or after their buildings were declared unsafe and dilapidated.

Protestors carried placards and raised slogans decrying the “systematic shutdown of Marathi schools” and the handover of plots and buildings housing such schools to developers for redevelopment. These moves, protestors said, were shrinking access to free public education for low-income families while restricting Marathi as a medium of instruction.

“Marathi has a long history in education. Education in Mumbai started with Marathi reformers,” said Vivek Gorakhe, a protester. “There are more than 450 government-run Marathi schools in Mumbai and their standards are high. Closing these schools and opening up the land for redevelopment is not acceptable. Poor families depend on these schools.”

Trupti Nikalje, Mumbai district joint secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and a participant in the protest, said for parents who do not have money, BMC schools are the only option.

“Closures push poor families out of education,” Nikalje said. “The corporation wants to keep the poor as poor as possible. They do not want the underprivileged to learn and progress.”

Nikalje’s daughter Preksha, a class 6 student at a BMC school, wondered where girls like her would study in case their schools shut down.

“We don’t have money to go to private schools. But we have ambitions. How will we fulfill them if our schools are shut,” she asked.

While the protest was underway, a delegation comprising Deepak Pawar, Chinmayi Sumit, Anand Bhandare and Sushil Shejule met Bhushan Gagrani and other senior officials and submitted a memorandum of demands.

In an official statement issued in the evening, the BMC acknowledged that Gagrani had personally accepted the memorandum.

“The BMC administration is serious about effectively running Marathi-medium schools and has been making efforts for the last 10–15 years to prevent a drop in enrolment and to increase student numbers…As the Model Code of Conduct for the 2025 civic elections is currently in force, holding meetings for detailed discussions or taking decisions is not appropriate. After the election process is completed, meetings will be held to discuss the issues raised,” the statement said.