In accordance with the “janbhagidaari public private partnership (PPP)” mode adopted by the Gujarat education department, for which 349 organisations from all over the state submitted applications, fifty private organisations have been chosen to manage as many Swami Vivekananda Gyan Shakti Residential Schools.
127 applicants were visited by the security expert committee, and 115 were chosen to present to the committee. To start these schools in June 2023 and serve one lakh students, 50 of these were chosen. Despite the fact that the process began in 2021 and was intended to begin during the academic year 2022–2023, it was postponed because of the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2022.
Among the selected organisations are Devka Vidyapeeth Amreli, Swaminarayan Gurukul in Jamnagar and Bhayavadar, Rajkot, Surendranagar University, Vanvasi Utkarsh Mandal Banaskantha, Leads India Education Trust Bharuch, Sandipani Vidya Sankul Dang, Vidyavihar Kelavani Mandal Ahmedabad and Sigma Institute of Technology Vadodara.
“After a rigorous process that started in 2021, these 50 have been approved by the expert committee for Swami Vivekananda Gyan Shakti Residential Schools,” said Vinod Rao, secretary education.
The schools, according to education officials, will fill the existing gap for huge number of applicants received by Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) and Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) every year.
Going by the data maintained by the education department, 1.10 lakh and 40,000 applications are received against 1,900 and 3,000 students who are admitted every year in Class 6 in JNV and EMRS, respectively.
From Class 6 through Class 12, the Swami Vivekanand Gyan Shakti Residential Schools will identify one lakh talented students from government schools and offer them a high-quality education free of charge. According to a senior education official, additional services include coaching for career counselling and preparation for competitive entrance exams like the JEE, NEET, NDA, NID, NIFT, and even the Civil Services Exam.
These private and charitable organisations will be reimbursed with the annual recurring cost of Rs 60,000 per student with a seven per cent hike every year.
As per the rules framed by the education department for these schools, while each school campus needs to be on 10 acres of land owned by the project partner who will make all the capital investment required to develop physical and digital infrastructure for 2,000 students. Around 15,000 students will be admitted every year in Class 6 by the education department.
According to government guidelines, teachers and other employees have to be recruited on contractual basis by the project partner for these schools on an average monthly salary of Rs 30,000, the official added.
For admissions, the education department will conduct an entrance test for eligible students who have studied in government and grant-in-aid schools from Class 1 to 5 on April 27.
The state government has approved 25 additional Swami Vivekananda Gyan Shakti Tribal Residential Schools for 50,000 tribal children in order to offer them residential facilities and a free, high-quality education from Class 6 to 12.