Corporate schools may be established to provide better facilities for students

STATE EDUCATION MINISTRY AIMS TO ALLOW PVT COS TO START INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

Private companies may now be able to start corporate schools on No Profit, No Loss basis as per discussions with the state education ministry. This issue has been discussed in the winter session of the General Assembly at Nagpur and the bill will be tabled in next monsoon session.

These corporate schools will be independently run by private companies who wish to propagate education. They will be established as per Section 8 of Company Law which allows private companies to work in education, charity, health and other social development sectors. Companies can thUs establish independent organisations and educational institutions under this law.

Private companies will have the right to run these schools on No Profit, No Loss criteria. As per this, the schools will not be allowed to make profits through education and will thus be restricted from earning more. Also, these schools will go through an audit process every year wherein their balance sheet should display no profits and no loss.

The aim is to enhance the education scenario and provide better facilities for students. Vinod Tawde, state education minister for school and higher education, said, "A lot companies have asked us permission to run independent schools as they have been involved in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in schools. These corporate schools will not work for business and cannot earn more as per the law."

The Fee Regulation Authority (FRA) can regulate fees of these schools as they will be under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Also, the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) will have a say in the fees of these schools and the PTA can complaint to the District Free Regulation Committee (DFRC) in case of any discrepancies. Though the corporate firms will decide the fees it can be regulated and amended by the PTA and FRA.

In the last three years, the state education ministry has directed private firms to adopt around 6,500 Zilla Parishad schools on CSR basis. A teacher said, “Corporate schools can work as a good model if the fees are regulated and affordable for students from all economic sections of the society. Private companies may provide high-end facilities and services in their schools but it should be economical too.”