Govt,corporate giant join hands for quality education

The school,to be run jointly by the government and the Bharti Foundation,will impart education free of cost to the poorer sections of the society,and affordable education to others.

State Education Minister Bibi Upindejit Kaur termed the initiative “historic”,which will go a long way in establishing a bond between the public and private sector to revolutionise the education system in the state.

She said over 2,000 children in the border villages will directly benefit from the school and will get quality education of an English-medium school.

The school building,spread over 20 acres provided by the panchayat,will be equipped with latest technology. The land was acquired by the government and given to the Bharti Foundation for a lease of 99 years to run the school.

Kaur said the cost of capital expenditure has been jointly borne by the government and the Bharti Foundation.

“Our aim to bring quality education to the rural areas has been achieved by opening this school. The corporate sector is also realising its social responsibilities and helping us to strengthen the education system,” said the minister,adding that six more such schools will soon be inaugurated in the state.

Rakesh Bharti Mittal,co-chairman,Bharti Foundation said the idea for the school originated during a meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal a few years ago.

“We will bear the cost to operate the school,training the teachers and bringing the latest technology,apart from monitoring the progress,” he said.

The school,he said,will follow the CBSE curriculum and have facilities including computer labs,libraries and sports. He said they have already earmarked Rs 50 crore for setting up a Bharti Institute of Public Policy at Mohali,which will impart training to the bureaucrats,political leaders and others.

Earlier,Kaur said the state government was in the process to identify buildings,which could house the new school and the process of recruitment of teachers had also begun.

She appreciated Bharti Foundation for running 236 Satya Bharti Primary Schools in five states,giving education to over 29,000 underprivileged children.

Local Akali leaders including former MLA and District Planning Board head Vir Singh Lopoke were present. He,along with sarpanch of Chogawan village Bhagel Singh demanded that the local youth from the village be provided the employment in the school as they had provided the land to the school.