Andhra Pradesh government is all set to carry forward the unfinished agenda of UPA government- running government schools under Private Public Partnership (PPP) model. While reviewing the developmental schemes of social welfare department, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu is said to have instructed the officials to examine the matter of running all the social welfare residential schools and hostels under PPP model immediately. PPP model in Indian school education was introduced during UPA -2 regime.
Once the system is introduced in Andhra Pradesh, private players would take the control over the huge premises of social welfare hostels and schools across the state. In 2013, the then human resources minister MM Pallam Raju, an Andhra man in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, unveiled a scheme to set up 2500 schools under PPP model. Though not much is known about the scheme now, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Naidu wants to carry it forward by bringing the social welfare schools and hostels being run for the benefit of students from poorer sections in Andhra Pradesh,to start with.
When the UPA government mooted the scheme, the objective was to overcome the infirmities inherent in the government education system by allowing private participation which the UPA believed would infuse more funds and bring accountability. The question then raised was that would the private players preserve the character of these schools which are now basically meant for poorer sections.
Now, chief minister Naidu said the objective was to impart corporate education to every poor student.
Besides social welfare minister Ravela Kishore Babu, women and child welfare minister Pithala Sujatha, SC, ST MLAs, MLCs MPs and officials participated in the meeting.
Though no details have been made public, Naidu is said to have asked the officials to prepare plans for implementation of PPP model for welfare schools. The CM also instructed official to ensure that there is one SC residential school in every constituency in the state.