The NPOL Civilian Employees’ Union, affiliated to All India Defence Employees’ Federation, has brought up a point that Varuna Vidyalaya, now being operated by a private group of educational institutions on a private-public partnership basis, could be converted into a full-fledged Kendriya Vidyalaya even as there is a search on for a suitable location for a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kakkanad that has been allotted for the State.
While the Kendriya Vidyalaya authorities, who visited the two sites identified by the Thrikkakara municipal authorities early this week for setting up the new Kendriya Vidyalaya, have not reached a decision, the civilian defence employees at the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory in Kakkanad are of the opinion that the infrastructure built under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Varuna Vidyalaya could be utilised to establish the Kendriya Vidyalaya without any difficulty.
While the DRDO has built the infrastructure, the day-to-day running of the school, including appointment of teachers and other staff, is managed by the private group on the basis of an agreement with the defence organisation. There are 17 such schools under the DRDO across India but only the Kakkanad school is being run on a PPP model, said M.K. Abhilash, general secretary of the NPOL Civilian Employees’ Association. At the same time, it is learnt that there is a move to go in for privatisation of these schools.
Leaders of the employees’ association have met District Collector Jafar Malik, who is the nodal officer for finding an ideal location for Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kakkanad, to present their suggestions and seek his opinion on the matter, Mr. Abhilash added. He said that the present Varuna Vidyalaya has sufficient infrastructure available and that the transition to a full-fledged Kendriya Vidyalaya could be in a phased manner as the long-term contract is set to end in 2025.
