BMC to increase number of schools up to standard 10

As per reports, Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is to increase the number of schools teaching up to standard 10.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the dropout rates have increased in the city as a result of the civic body being unable to provide for education up to standard 10. Moreover, there are only 543 municipal schools teaching up to the eighth standard and just 224 schools that teach up to standard 10. As a result, several educationists have opined that increasing the number of civic body-run schools in the city to prove to be beneficial for aspiring students.

The BMC, with 227 corporator seats, is among the most prestigious and cash-rich civic bodies in the country and has been dominated for over three decades now by the Shiv Sena. Moreover, in November 2019, the Shiv Sena won both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor polls in Mumbai Mayor polls, retaining control over the civic body.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena's Kishori Pednekar and Suhas Wadkar won the Mayor and Deputy Mayor post on November 22, after BJP's Ashish Shelar bowed out of the race. The Shiv Sena led by CM Uddhav Thackeray has controlled the civic body since 1985. As of now, Shiv Sena has 84 seats, BJP had 82 seats, NCP has 6 corporators and Congress has 30 corporators. Before separating at the civic level, the saffron allies fell out with the Sena insisting on an equal sharing of CM post for 2.5 years and portfolios, which was refused by BJP, leading to the formation of the Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state.