Maharashtra: Tribal children send postcards to CM seeking free education for kids up to 18

THANE: Thousands of tribal children from four districts of Maharashtra have picked up the humble yellow postcard to urge the government to provide free and compulsory education to every child in the state up to the age of 18. On July 2, some of them dropped the postcards in the postboxes in their vicinity, several handed them over to their local postmasters, while others put them in decorated boxes brought to their schools.

The children wrote on postcards to convey their message to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as part of an awareness campaign organised by a tribal rights organisation, said its officials.

"Dear Devabhau, only you can provide free and compulsory education to every child in the state of Maharashtra up to the age of 18," read the postcards.

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Nearly 1.5 lakh took part campaign

Nearly 1.5 lakh children from tribal pockets in Palghar, Thane, Nashik and Raigad districts took part in the week-long campaign, which culminated on Thursday with the posting of the postcards, the organisation said.

According to the organisation, Shramjeevi Sanghatana, its officials met Fadnavis on Wednesday and presented him with a memorandum alongside an oversized replica frame of the children's postcard.

While the Right to Education Act guarantees free schooling up to the age of 14, the organisation said it is demanding that Maharashtra proactively extend this provision to include all children between the ages of 3 and 18.

Such an expansion will align with the "frameworks of the National Education Policy 2020 and specific recommendations made by the NITI Aayog regarding senior school education", it said.