The State government will make interventions to improve the standard of education in government schools following the successful implementation of PRISM (Promoting Regional Schools to International Standards through Multiple Interventions) at Government Vocational Higher Secondary School for Girls (GVHSS), Nadakkavu, said P.K.Abdu Rabb, Minister for Education.
The Minister was addressing a gathering after dedicating new facilities — including smart classrooms, science labs, and an astro turf stadium — to the school on Thursday. These were set up with financial support from the Faizal and Shabana Foundation.
Mr. Rabb, explaining the limitations of the government, said a shift to such standards would be possible only with magnanimous support from the private sector. “Across the State, there are over 12,000 government educational institutions and all these are in need of proper support from outside,” he said.
MLAs had been given the privileges of designing comprehensive educational projects for schools in their constituencies with the funding of the government, he said. “All MLAs have been promised Rs.5 crore to realise such projects,” he said.
The government would be able to achieve its vision of opening 22 new colleges in select Assembly constituencies in the next academic year, the Minister said. “So far, we have opened seven colleges in this category with the support of the legislators concerned,” he said.
Minister for Panchayats and Social Welfare M.K. Muneer said the new-look GVHSS would proclaim to the world the changing scenario of government schools in the State. “The school would be able to emerge as one of the top 10 government schools in the country within a few years,” he said.
A. Pradeepkumar, MLA, who conceptualised the project and ‘worked towards getting contributors to fund the scheme’ said, all government schools in the State should get a similar facelift and achieve international standards.
“For implementing PRISM, we got abundant support from all quarters, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Infosys, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIIM-K), and the Regional Science Centre,” he said.
New facilities at the school would be maintained under a committee comprising people’s representatives, parents, and teachers, Mr. Pradeepkumar said adding Mr. Rabb should avoid ‘unwanted’ transfer of teachers from schools as it would adversely affect the project.
Mayor A.K. Premajam, Faizal and Shabana Foundation chairman Faizal Kottikollon, and vice-chairperson Shabana Faizal addressed the gathering.
