| Firms join hands with govt to rebuild AP schools | |
| SOCIAL ENTERPRISE | | Seema Sindhu & B Krishna Mohan / Hyderabad/new Delhi October 13, 2008, 0:47 IST | |
BR Ambedkar Nagar, a small locality in the upscale Film Nagar area of Hyderabad, has a small school run by the government lacking basic infrastructure facilities. This Government Primary School (GPS) has about 120 children and is currently being run in just one temporary shed.
AppLabs Charitable Trust (ACT, the charitable wing of AppLabs, a software testing, quality management and certification solutions company) visited GPS school in 2007 to conduct its first monthly charitable activity at the school premises. Looking at the lack of infrastructure at the school premises, ACT initiated a dialogue with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) to work through public–private partnership (PPP) to fund the school building construction.
ACT signed an MoU for construction of the school building with SSA authorities and started the construction work in June this year.
The plot area for the proposed school is about 450 square yards and the super built-up area comprise ground and first floor in about 3,350 square feet. The school, which will have five classrooms and two staff rooms, is supposed to be inaugurated on January 26, 2009. The public-private fund participation is in the ratio of 80:20. According to the signed MoU with the SSA authorities, the school would be named AppLabs Ambedkar Government Primary School.
This school is a product of the School Adoption scheme the state government initiated about three years ago with a pilot project in adjoining Ranga Reddy district. Under this scheme, the private companies or philanthropists build schools or additional classrooms in the existing government schools.
Some extend teaching and learning material, uniforms, furniture or bear the salaries of teachers and other activities.
In return, the government allows the companies or philanthropists who donate Rs 5-10 lakh to name the schools or the block they build after someone they love. In all, 20 companies and individuals have come forward to adopt government primary and upper primary schools.
According to community mobilising officer V Madhusudhan, SSA, about Rs 6.05 crore, including Rs 4.85 crore at the district level, has been collected through Vidyanidhi, a gateway set up for mobilising community support for the government schools. So far, 14 schools have been named after the donors. If donations in kind are taken into consideration, it will add another Rs 10 crore.
HSBC Mandal Parishad High School at Madhapur in the hi-tech city runs from a newly constructed two-storied building with huge paintings hung on wall and multi-colour tiles.
Not long ago, the school operated from a two-room shed and accommodated about 250 students from classes 1 to 5. Now, there are over 720 students, well qualified teachers, sufficient lights, fans, good blackboards, a library, a computer laboratory and also separate toilets for boys and girls.
Upper Primary School at Gachibowli is another example. The buildings and infrastructure facilities have changed after Infotech Enterprises Limited adopted it. According to K Nageswara Rao, representing Infotech and responsible for the project, the company plans to spend about Rs 1 crore on the school over three years. It has already constructed additional classrooms, deputed teachers, posted round the clock security at the school, provided uniforms and notebooks to the students.
Among others, the Government High School at Yusufguda has teachers deputed by the Rotary Club. HSBC employees contributed Rs 35 crore for construction of additional classrooms and providing infrastructure facilities in two phases at Madhapur.
The Mastan Nagar slum school is now Rainbow.
Leigh Anee Gilbert, a wife of an MNC official, took personal interest in mobilising Rs 3 lakh for the school. She later took up the matter with the Secunderabad MP C Anjan Kumar, who arranged Rs 7.5 lakh through the MPLADS for the G+2 building.
Renuka, a class XII student who has seen her school transform into a plush looking complex following HSBC’s assistance, says: “Earlier the attenders donned the role of teachers, Cleanliness was a far cry. But things have changed now. We have good teachers, good facilities and we feel we are in the same league as private schools.” Among other things, she looks forward to meet volunteers from HSBC, who spend their weekends, teaching spoken English, grooming and personality development.
The school had three teachers then and two of them retired leaving a lone teacher-cum-principal. HSBC appointed seven qualified teachers following a rigorous selection process to teach at the school. “We teach the alphabet and numbers by playing a CD on the computer,” says V Vijaya, principal at the school who manages a staff of 15 including vidya volunteers given by the government. The new look school aided in reducing the drop ratio drastically except among the children of migrant labourers.
But what is depressing is the almost stagnant number of private partners in school education. “There is not much progress in the school adoption scheme. There is scope for scaling up the project,” said an official, who has been involved with the school adoption process.
Though a community mobilisation channel was opened, it could not be directed to tap more corporates, industry and philanthropists for garnering support for the schools.
Most of the schools on PPP model are built in Hyderabad itself at present. But private participation is taking place at in other areas too.
SSA officials say that in another year it plans to raise 50-80 more schools on PPP model in Hyderabad. “Efforts are on to get the industry and trade partners involved in adoption of schools across the state. The idea is to provide basic infrastructure like drinking water and toilets at all schools,” they said.
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