Skip to main content

Dummy schools in Ahmedabad? Coaching classes are tying up with regular schools!

Dummy schools? Well, this is the new term that has been coined -- and they are a "happening" in Ahmedabad, vibrant Gujarat's business capital. An insider who happens to occupy an important position in one such school told me the other day, what are known as many "classes" -- the after-school coaching shops -- have "tied up" with recognised schools.
"The children are helped by enrolling them in regular schools, which for them operate as dummy schools. They don't have to attend classes. Their attendance is marked as present. They appear in regularly in all examinations. Only once a week they are required to go to their dummy schools where they are enrolled, that too if they are science students, as the coaching classes don't have lab facilities", I was told.
I have no idea if the Gujarat government is aware of this development. However, it is highly unlikely that the politicians associated with the ruling BJP don't know about it, as many of them, as also those of the Congress, are known to run regular schools, privatised and government aided. Are dummy schools are just an extension of the privatisation of education, one of the main thrusts of the New Education Policy? Let policy makers take a call.

Comments

TRENDING

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.  I don't know who owns this site, for there is nothing on it in the About Us link. It merely says, the Nashik Corporation  site   "is an educational and news website of the municipal corporation. Today, education and payment of tax are completely online." It goes on to add, "So we provide some of the latest information about Property Tax, Water Tax, Marriage Certificate, Caste Certificate, etc. So all taxpayer can get all information of their municipal in a single place.some facts about legal and financial issues that different city corporations face, but I was least interested in them."  Surely, this didn't interest...

Beyond the 'plum' posting: Why the caste lens still defines bureaucratic success

Following my recent blog on former IAS bureaucrat Atanu Chakraborty’s sudden exit as non-executive chairman of HDFC Bank, a few colleagues from the Gujarat cadre — mostly those I interacted with during my Gandhinagar stint (1997–2012) as the Times of India representative — reacted rather sharply. Most of them sent their responses directly on WhatsApp, touching upon on the merits and demerits of Chakraborty’s controversial move. One former IAS officer, a Dalit, however, went further, raising a broader question: why do some officials like Chakraborty secure plum post-retirement assignments, while others are overlooked?

Blaming RTE, not underfunding: Education groups hit back at NITI Aayog working paper

A preliminary working paper by Arvind Virmani, economist and member of the Government of India think tank NITI Aayog, has concluded that the Right to Education (RTE) Act — enacted to guarantee free and compulsory schooling for children between six and fourteen — has actually worsened learning outcomes rather than improved them. The paper, published in March 2026 and reported by The Print on 16 April, has drawn sharp pushback from education rights advocates, who argue it builds a politically motivated narrative against constitutionally guaranteed entitlements.