New Delhi: While there is no research or study available on their effectiveness in improving the education system, state after state is launching their Schools of Excellence (SoE).
Delhi government’s Schools of Specialised Excellence first came up in 2021. Then, Tamil Nadu announced setting up of SoE in September last year. In December, Gujarat announced “Mission Schools of Excellence”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this project. In 2023, Punjab, also being run by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is also all set to launch Schools of Eminence.
If that’s not all, the central government already has plans to launch model schools by the name of PM SHRI schools. The idea is to transform existing schools into specialised schools that provide better education. The government plans to launch 14,500 such schools, including Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs), across the country in the next two years.
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What are model schools?
Their names may differ but the idea behind all these schools is the same – to improve the quality of education through upgraded infrastructure, smart classrooms (classrooms equipped with digital blackboards) and computer labs.
While there isn’t clarity on the number of seats on offer in each state with SoEs, Tamil Nadu is set to establish 28 schools under the category. Gujarat, on the other hand, will be setting up 50,000 classrooms, in addition to 1.5 lakh smart classrooms in schools. It aims to reach 83 per cent of the state’s student population through these schools. Meanwhile, Punjab plans to upgrade 117 existing schools to be Schools of Eminence. The number of seats in Delhi’s Schools of Specialised Excellence is 4,400.
The schools in Delhi, Punjab and Tamil Nadu cater to students from Class 9 to 12, run on a similar model, and offer holistic development of children. While the Tamil Nadu schools will focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) education, the ones in Delhi also focus on performing arts, humanities, and other subjects, apart from STEM. The focus of Punjab schools will be non-medical, medical, commerce and humanities, officials associated with the project in the state said to ThePrint.
Gujarat, on the other hand, will cater to students from Class 1 to 12 by adding new infrastructure in existing schools and improving the quality of teachers. These improved schools will then be called SoE.
“We are not opening new schools…this project is all about strengthening (existing) schools. About 15,000 schools are where 83 per cent of the entire state’s students study. If we strengthen that, we will be able to achieve a better quality of education. We are ensuring a teacher for every classroom and for every grade,” an education consultant working with the Gujarat government said to ThePrint.
Meanwhile, according to sources in the education ministry, the idea behind PM SHRI school is to transform existing government schools into model schools, wherein the central and state governments will run them on a 60:40 budget. The scheme has been allocated a budget of Rs 4,000 crore in this year’s Union Budget. These schools will also cater to students from Class 1 to 12 and the admission process will be decided by the individual state. For instance, the Delhi government conducts an entrance test for admission to its Schools of Specialised Excellence.
However, experts have raised questions on the effectiveness of such schools in contributing to quality education, given the small number of students they cater to.
‘Creating caste system’
Educationist and former vice-chancellor of National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), R. Govinda said to ThePrint that years ago, when KVs and NVs were introduced, similar words were used for them also and they were touted to improve education at grassroot level.
“Did KVs and NVs change the education levels in the country? Find the answer to that and it answers your question. Creating more SoE is like expanding the caste system where you are adding one category after another but not actually solving the problem,” he said.
“There are more than 1.5 million schools in the country and you want to change 100-odd of those. How many students do you think this will cater to? You do not need such schools to teach children, you just need to teach them properly and they will learn. What the governments need to do is improve the quality of teachers in schools and ensure that teachers come to classrooms, rest of the things will follow,” he added.
Sameer Gupta, a freelance education consultant who advises states and NGOs, raised questions about the admission process in such schools and whether it is meant to select the correct students. “The Right to Education (RTE) Act says that schools cannot conduct admission tests for students up to Class 8. While they can conduct tests to select students in the higher grade, how does it ensure that they are getting the correct students? If the idea is to improve the quality of education, what about students who genuinely need the help, otherwise you are just creating a caste system…less intelligent students and more intelligent students… that’s it,” Gupta said to ThePrint.
“How about schools in Gujarat and the PM SHRI schools?,” he asked, wondering what admission process will be adopted without flouting RTE norms. “The government must ensure that the norms are not being flouted by these schools,” he added.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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