The Times of India            28.12.2013 

Municipal school budget to power revamp

AHMEDABAD: The chairman of the municipal school board, Jagdish Bhavsar, presented a budget of Rs 612.2 crore for the city. This year, the board has made an additional Rs 6.25 crore provisions for new programmes that have to be introduced in a few schools as part of an experiment.

To start with, the board has proposed to spend Rs 2.5 crore for a special 'Bala Project' in the fives zones of the city involving 25 schools. Under the project important spaces within the school premises will be turned into a space for learning - with such features as letters on walls and graphics explaining interesting facts and trivia. Even the play utilities will be educational. Teachers here will be given special teaching aides to help students visualize concepts.

The second project announced was the implementation of the 'Sakshar Ahmedabad Abhiyan' under which councilors will individually carry out the school enrolment mission. In another ambitious decision, CCTV cameras in 25 schools will be installed - a pilot project that was carried out in Delhi municipal schools.

The experiment will help in monitoring teachers in the schools. A budget of Rs 25 lakh is being earmarked for this purpose. Also as part of an experiment, children of standard VI and XIII will be taught to repair mobile phones and electronic gadgets. "A special mention in our budget is towards constructing a special 'girl's only' room in 25 schools in the city. The project will be extended to other schools as well in the following budget years," says Bhavsar.

Children will also be given martial art lessons. "This academic year we will set aside Rs 50 lakh to organize school tours for children to Kevadia Colony to show them the site where the world's tallest statue, of Sardar Patel, is going to be built," says Bhavsar.