Not many takers for Adarsh school sites

Four schools out of these — one each at Bhikhariwala (Gurdaspur),Veler Khurd (Tarn Taran),Bhukan Khan Wala (Ferozepur) and Canal Colony (Bathinda) — are being run by the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA).

Out of the 56 sites allotted to private bodies and NGOs,only one school located at Chogawan in Amritsar,being run by Bharti Enterprises,has students and is functioning.

Bharti Enterprises is setting up another five schools in Ludhiana and Sangrur. Another 13 schools sites have been allotted to Educomp. The Balaji Educational Trust,Bathinda,has six sites with it while Chandigarh Overseas Pvt Ltd has another six sites in Ropar,Fatehgarh Sahib and Muktsar. A Delhi-based company,New Horizons Ltd,is setting up six Adarsh schools in Bathinda,Ferozepur,Ludhiana,Moga,Ropar and Jalandhar.

FCS Software Solutions Chandigarh has five sites with it. Three school sites have been taken by the Yadvindra Public School Association.

“Construction of the school buildings is underway on 21 sites and some of these schools should be able to take students from the next session,” said Director General School Education,Krishan Kumar.

Sources in the department point out that despite a standing offer for these sites on the education department’s website,there have been no fresh applications for these school sites for many months now. As many as 11 schools sites in Gurdaspur are awaiting takers while another seven sites are available in Ferozepur.

“Most of the contenders for the schools and some of the allottees want the department to relax its allotment conditions to allow them to use the school premises for commercial teaching work after schools hours,” said Krishan Kumar. He said the Board would consider the demand and put it up to the chief minister,who is likely to consult the Cabinet for a final decision on the dilution of rules.

Early this year,the government had revised many of the conditions governing the opening of Adarsh schools. The maximum number of students that can be admitted to the schools was increased from 1,000 to 2,000. The capital cost (capped at Rs 7.5 crore) is shared equally between the Board and the private party while the sharing of the recurring cost of Rs 1,600 per student per month was fixed in the ratio of 70:30 between the Board and the private partner.

The turnover limit of a private body to be eligible to apply for an Adarsh school site was also brought down from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 25 lakh as also the experience of the body’s involvement in teaching from 10 to five years.

The students for these schools are to be selected through a transparent system of testing,and education in these schools is free. The schools are expected to impart high quality education and there is no condition on the school to affiliate itself with Punjab School Education Board.

Other than the 110 sites,nine Adarsh schools are being run by Punjab School Education Board.