The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is eyeing corporate sponsorships for upgrading infrastructure in government schools.
With funding from corporate bodies, philanthropists and other interested persons, the department aims to improve infrastructure such as classrooms, library, toilets, compound walls and so on, thereby augmenting facilities for children in schools. A circular issued by the Commissioner of Public Instruction recently asked officials in the department in districts such as Mysore to connect with corporate bodies, organisations and donors and persuade them to lend a helping hand to improve infrastructure in schools.
Senior officers in the department here confirmed to The Hindu the receipt of the circular and said that school authorities had been asked to prepare lists of works required immediately. In addition to the School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC) that already exists in every school, another four-member committee needs to be constituted as per the new directive to ensure corporate partnerships for school development.
Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) H.R. Basappa told The Hindu that a meeting of heads of all schools would be convened soon to discuss the steps to be taken.
“It’s an overall development of school infrastructure using funds donated by philanthropists, corporate bodies, industries and others,” he said. Every school is required to prepare a School Development Plan (SDP) identifying areas that require funding for developing infrastructure. Deputy Project Officer of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Chandru Patil said the requirement of every school in the district would be identified by the respective school authorities and would be uploaded on the department’s website.
CSR programme
He said corporate bodies would also be consulted and requested to give contributions towards upgrading the infrastructure under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. “There are old students of government schools who may be interested in donating towards the school’s development. Such responses can be hoped when information on the schools is uploaded on the website,” he added.
Mr. Patil, however, said some schools were getting aid in the form of articles such as shoes, books, desks and so on. This time, funding had been sought for upgrading physical infrastructure of schools.
