After long delay,Cabinet to take up revised plan on PPP model schools

However,while work on the 3,500 schools which were to be set up by the government either afresh or through conversion of existing schools has begun,the public-private partnership model for the remaining 2,500 had failed to take off.

The new proposals for the Rashtriya Adarsh Vidyalayas are the result of two-year-long deliberations between the government,Planning Commission and private sector representatives on how to ensure private sector participation in this field,as well as guarantee that they got returns on such investment.

While the first draft had a Planning Commission proposal that the government buy land and give it to private parties,the cost was found to be too prohibitive.

Among the features of the new proposal are:

Schools not to come up in educationally backward districts but in towns and semi-urban areas. Government support to vary as per the size of the location,with its contribution increasing in smaller or troubled areas.

The private sector will bear the cost of the land and the building. The government will reimburse the private participant at the rate of the Kendriya Vidyalaya fees per student.

Education would be practically free for students sponsored by the government,whose families should either fall in the category of those who do not come in an income tax bracket or are SC/STs. Sponsored students must make up 40 per cent of the class strength.

Reservation for SC/ST/OBC students should not be less than reservation rules applicable in states; there would also be a quota for girls on the lines of the Navodaya Vidyalayas.

While 500 schools would be set up in the first phase,1,000 schools each would be set up over the next two years.

Total intake in these schools would not exceed 2,500 students.

Government support would vary depending on the size of the town the schools are set up in. The two parties will also enter into a concession agreement so that the private player can raise funds in the capital market.

Private players can include corporates,NGOs,and schools that have an experience of running a CBSE-affiliated school from which at least two batches have passed out. A single entity cant have more than 25 schools under the scheme.

The private entity will be allowed to use the school premises and assets for other educational purposes to add to its revenue.

The schools would adhere to CBSE guidelines in terms of student and teacher ratio,teacher qualifications,service rules and infrastructure requirements.

An assessment of the schools would be done after 10 years.

We cant sweeten the deal too much but we have to see to it that private entities are able to get a return on their investment, a highly placed source said.