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Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Not just teachers' salaries, over 5,000 grant in-aid schools in Gujarat to also get funds for infrastructure development
Over 5,000 grant-in-aid secondary and higher secondary schools in Gujarat will now get funds from the state government to develop their infrastructure as well. The state government on Thursday announced financial assistance to schools under Mission School of Excellence 2.0. At present, the state government provides grants only in the form of teachers' salaries or grant per child to such schools. The decision, considered to be a major move towards strengthening secondary and higher secondary education, is said to be in response to demands from the management of grant-in-aid schools in the state. This assistance will be provided in the ratio of 80:20 to grant-in-aid secondary and higher secondary schools affiliated to Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board with the state government bearing the majority of the cost, the Gujarat government announced in a release. This scheme, which will be implemented from the academic year 2025-26 for a period of five years, will benefit nearly 5,100 schools. 'The state government has given a positive response to the demand of the School Management Association by starting this scheme in the wider interest of the education world and school students,' Bhaskar Patel from Gujarat State School Management Association stated. Under the scheme, grants will be made available only once to secondary and higher secondary schools to create infrastructure facilities on their campuses. The grant amount will range from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1.50 crore, depending on the number of students. The infrastructure facilities for which the schools are eligible to receive assistance under this scheme include construction of missing classrooms, special rooms like library, laboratory, computer lab, vocational room and girls' room; new toilet blocks for male and female students; and drinking water facilities and other major repairs as well as painting of the premises, construction of compound walls and accessible infrastructure facilities required for the differently abled. The schools are required to submit a proposal in the prescribed format with the District Education Officer concerned by September 30. Soon, a Government Resolution (GR) is also expected to be issued for the implementation of this scheme.
Indian Express
28-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Gujarat government stalls School of Excellence scheme following ‘negative feedback'
The Gujarat government's plan to exempt certain private schools from the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017 under the 'School of Excellence' scheme has been put on hold, said sources. The proposed exemption would have required an amendment to the 2017 Act, aiming to award at least 1% of private schools with 'Schools of Excellence' status, similar to the Centre of Excellence status for private universities. The move was aimed to exempt these schools from the fee regulation committee and grant them freedom in admissions. Sources cited a 'negative' feedback from the public as the reason for this red flag forcing the government to stall the decision for the time being. On July 2, the state government had laid down all the rules for the scheme, including who all will be eligible and how to apply among other things. On July 2, The Indian Express had reported that how the state government is set to amend Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017 after eight years of its implementation for at least 1 per cent private schools with 99% pass result and 75% average score under the 'School of Excellence' status. Earlier this week, the state government had invited feedback from the public regarding the same, following which the Education Department had received 25 suggestions, most of which were against the decision, sources revealed. 'We are looking into the feedback at the moment,' Principal Secretary, Education, Mukesh Kumar told The Indian Express. Sharing details of the feedback submitted by Gujarat State School Management Association, its president Bhaskar Patel told The Indian Express, 'We had suggested to the state government to exempt all private schools and not only a few from the fee regulation committee. Also, we had stated that the conditions put on private schools to be eligible under the scheme should not be there and they should be allowed to follow the natural course of action.' Three institutions, under the Udgam chain of schools, had, as per sources, submitted their feedback in support of the decision. Udgam chain of schools, Executive Director, Manan Choksi told The Indian Express, 'It is a good initiative which will focus on the results. However, we had also suggested that the government, in addition to the board results, should have added other criterias such as the number of years a student has studied in the school. There should be slabs under which the schools could be placed and they can push to aspire and achieve the School of Excellence status.' The state government cited old universities like Taxila, Nalanda and Kashi that had 'their own identity all over the world', the same week the scheme was put in the public domain for suggestions and feedback. The Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017, placed an upper limit on the amount of fees that can be charged from students. Around 4,500 self-financed secondary and higher secondary schools are registered under various education boards in Gujarat. As per the criteria that was laid down for School of Excellence, the schools should have a pass percentage of 99 to 100% in Board examination. Other criteria was that at least 60 students should have appeared in the Board examination from such schools. Besides, the average marks of students in Class 10 should be 80% or above. For Class 12, it was set at 75% or above. These would apply to all the schools registered in the state with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, CBSE, or any other boards. A Scrutiny Committee and an Empowered Committee was also formed to prepare the list of Schools of Excellence among the applications. 'In Gujarat, even if 1% of private schools will be given autonomy, they can focus on their own education and extra-curricular activities and try to take the same to the higher level. By bringing all the schools in the state under the same fee structure, all those schools will perform similar activities and instead of moving towards excellence, they will only work towards (being) homogeneous. If it is found necessary to take such special schools to their maximum potential of excellence, it is necessary to grant them partial exemption…,' the order issued by the state Education Department had stated. As part of the procedure, the state government was to invite applications from private schools that were to go through the scrutiny and empowered committees. As per the norms, if a school declared as Schools of Excellence fails to meet the eligibility criteria in the subsequent year, they were to be given one more term to meet the criteria, failing which they will be removed from the list. Under the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act 2017, no-self financed school can collect any fee in excess of what has been fixed by the Fee Regulatory Committee (FRC) for admission of students to any class or course of study. The private schools could be slapped a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh for the first contravention. While the cut-off limit for pre-primary and primary schools is Rs 15,000 per annum, for secondary and higher secondary schools offering general stream, it is Rs 25,000. For higher secondary schools with science stream, the upper limit is Rs 30,000 per annum.
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Gujarat set to reform PE teacher recruitment with new expert panel
Ahmedabad: The state education dept has established a committee comprising 10 members to assess and propose recommendations for the permanent recruitment of physical education (PE) instructors in primary and secondary educational institutions. The committee's responsibilities include analysing recruitment procedures and presenting findings to the govt. Additionally, they will examine recruitment practices in other states to suggest improvements to Gujarat's current policies. A recent high-level discussion, led by the chief minister, addressed the recruitment of sports assistants and considered proposals for permanent PE teaching positions. This meeting prompted the education department to establish the committee. The committee will be led by the education department's additional chief secretary as chairperson, with the schools office deputy director serving as member secretary. You Can Also Check: Ahmedabad AQI | Weather in Ahmedabad | Bank Holidays in Ahmedabad | Public Holidays in Ahmedabad The group also includes officials from the education board, schools commissioner, primary education director, and representatives from Krida Bharti Gujarat and Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Khám phá nhà tiền chế giá rẻ tại Bản Chiềng Khương Nomad's Notebook Nhấp vào đây Undo The committee's scope encompasses reviewing existing regulations, suggesting modifications, investigating recruitment procedures, determining salary frameworks, and establishing guidelines for permanent appointments. Their comprehensive findings will be presented to the state govt for consideration. The school management board has expressed concerns regarding the committee's composition. Bhaskar Patel, who heads the board, noted that while teacher union representatives are included, school management board members are not. He has requested representation for school management within the committee.
Time of India
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
RTE admissions: English medium schools have highest number of vacant seats
Ahmedabad: An analysis of the data of admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) shows that English medium schools had the highest number of vacant seats this year. This was the result of parents' preference for specific English medium institutions, coupled with the 6 km radius restriction, said experts. The third round of RTE admissions revealed 6,946 unfilled seats out of the total 94,798 seats, with 4,238 in English medium schools, predominantly in urban areas. The first two phases saw the allocation of seats to 93,270 students, with 85,744 confirming their admission within the deadline. Besides English medium, 624 seats in Gujarati medium, 1,919 in Hindi medium, and 165 in other mediums remained vacant after the third round of RTE admissions. According to Ahmedabad city district education officer (DEO) Rohit Chaudhary, parents prefer certain schools for English medium education. Gujarat State School Management Board president Bhaskar Patel stated that this trend was also observed due to the increasing demand for English medium education, but with a focus on select institutions. Parents consistently avoid certain schools, resulting in vacancies. During the third round of RTE admissions, seats were allocated to 2,231 additional children in Class 1 at private schools. At the end of the second round, 9,157 seats remained vacant, with over 31,000 applicants choosing new schools while 51,000 continued with their initial preferences. After the third round allocation on Friday last, 6,946 seats remained unfilled. Students must confirm their admission by June 13. The education department aims to accommodate 25% of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in private primary schools under RTE. For 2025-26, 9,814 unaided primary schools offered 94,798 seats across various medium.
