Mumbai’s schools are witnessing a trend, where students representing school cricket teams are opting for homeschooling, thereby raising concerns about its impact on local talent and academic standards.
While renowned cricket-playing schools like VN Sule and Swami Vivekanand prioritise traditional schooling, many others are open to flexible arrangements. The issue at hand is that while homeschooling gives students flexibility to balance sports and studies, it also raises questions about fairness and academic authenticity. There’s a risk that students from other states might come to Mumbai, enroll in schools with lax homeschooling norms, and dominate local cricket tournaments like the Giles Shield and Harris Shield.
Local students could thus be discouraged from playing cricket, as they may feel they can’t compete with students from other states, who have come here, taken up homeschooling and now have more time to dedicate to the sport.
Academic standards might suffer too and players from schools with strict academic policies might be at a disadvantage.
In Maharashtra, homeschooling norms are a grey area, especially for children between six and 14. The Right to Education Act (RTE) makes formal education compulsory, but homeschooling isn’t explicitly regulated. Clear homeschooling norms, a centralised monitoring system for academic progress and prioritisation of local students for inter-school tournaments is needed. Also, all schools should offer flexible scheduling and academic support for their young sportspersons else the future of Mumbai’s cricket and education might well hang in the balance.
Jagdish Achrekar was MCA’s Treasurer before the 2022 elections
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
