Mumbai, June 26 -- Teachers' bodies have strongly opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) decision to rope in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for managing academic activities at some of its schools, saying it sidelines regular municipal teachers and weakens the public education system. "Municipal teachers have dedicated their lives to educating children from underprivileged backgrounds. Instead of strengthening government schools and supporting existing teachers, the administration is giving academic control to NGOs. This decision creates uncertainty among teachers and sends a message that the administration has little faith in its own workforce," the Municipal Samarth Workers Union, which has teachers among its members, said in a letter to the BMC on Wednesday. NGOs have long been involved in providing educational support in BMC schools, and the civic body currently has around 30 empanelled NGOs which conduct supplementary activities and provide learning support in its schools. In recent years though, NGOs have been roped in to manage academic activities as well, including classroom teaching and student learning programmes. Recently, the academic management of two more municipal schools - the New Mahul Village School Complex in Chembur, and the Tunga Village School in Powai - was handed over to NGOs, triggering concern among teachers' unions. Rushikesh Ghosalkar, the general secretary of the Municipal Samarth Workers Union, said, "If there are shortcomings in the education system, the focus should be on improving facilities, reducing vacancies, providing better training and ensuring adequate resources for teachers. Handing over schools to outside organisations is not a long-term solution to the challenges faced by municipal education." BMC officials defended the decision, saying the policy was based on the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, and has been implemented since a decade. Prachi Jambhekar, deputy municipal commissioner (education), said the administration was closely monitoring the performance of all schools. "Our focus is on students. In some schools managed by NGOs, we have seen improvement in learning levels and academic performance. Any decision taken by the administration is aimed at providing better educational opportunities to children," Jambhekar said. Teachers' organisations have also questioned whether teachers appointed by NGOs were qualified and had cleared the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET), which is mandatory for all teachers in government and aided schools....