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South corporation to outsource school playgrounds

Friday, 23 August 2013 09:29 administrator
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The Indian Express               23.08.2013

South corporation to outsource school playgrounds

In order to impart quality sports training to students in municipal schools under its jurisdiction, the South municipal corporation will now engage reputed sports bodies in a public-private partnership (PPP) to raise the standard of sports education in its schools.

According to the proposal, the Corporation will outsource playgrounds to sports academies who will not only develop and maintain the grounds for a particular sport, but also provide free-of-cost training to municipal school students after school hours.

The corporation has invited an expression of interest from leading sports academies in this regard.

Many sports bodies such as Bhaichung Bhutia Football School, Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, Delhi Wushu Association, Delhi Judo Council, Delhi Karate Association and Delhi Taekwondo Association have already expressed interest to work with the civic body.

"Most of our schools have huge playgrounds, which remain underutilised. With the help of sports academies we will be able to use these playgrounds to the benefit of students. We will be able to train them in a sport of their interest," Satish Upadhyay, Education committee chairman, South corporation, said.

The sports bodies will be able to run their academies and provide paid training to children from the neighbourhood. This will help them recover operational costs," Upadhyay said.

"We have already begun the process of mapping playgrounds to determine suitability of grounds for different sports. Once the terms and conditions are finalised, we will sign a memorandum of understanding with the bodies," he said.

The Corporation is looking at engaging the academies for a tenure of five years to begin with.

"We are planning to outsource playgrounds in 50-odd schools in the first phase and expand the number later on. We are also looking at implementing the scheme in the next three months,"Sushil Singh, Director, Primary Education, MCD, said.

The corporation has 438 primary schools in its four zones — South, West, Central and Najafgarh. Over two lakh students are enrolled in these schools.

"Land is a premium commodity in the city. We will provide the academies open spaces and they will provide us their expertise. Its a win-win situation," Upadhyay said.