The government expenditure on setting up 2,500 model elementary schools through public private partnership (PPP) during the Eleventh Plan period (2007-2012) would be less than Rs 500 crore, even as the allocation for it was originally planned to be Rs 1,250 crore.
The underutilisation of funds is mainly on account of the scheme not taking off on time. In a round table on school education a month ago, the government support pattern was questioned, saying it would mean a huge financial burden on the exchequer. However, revised evaluation by the Planning Commission, which puts the fund requirement at Rs 500 crore, tries to address this objection.
Moreover, the support to be provided by the government would vary for different locations on the basis of differential cost and likely availability of students. The Planning Commission has also suggested that the support by the government be provided in a phased manner, beginning with 400 students per school in the first year of the scheme (2010-11) and reaching 1,000 by the fourth.
The overall scheme envisages a format where the government would provide support to up to 1,000 students per school, 50 per cent of whom would be from backward classes and the rest children of non-income-tax payers. The rest of the expenses like infrastructure, land, teaching, management and capital costs would be borne by the private entity.
The government, which had announced setting up 6,000 model schools during the Plan, wants to set up 2,500 of these under the PPP model. The Planning Commission has come up with procedures and estimates to evolve a suitable PPP model for starting these schools, and discussions have been underway for about a year.
