Sibal advocates public-private partnerships in education

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SME Times News Bureau | 24 Mar, 2010
From outsourcing infrastructure development of educational institutions to adopting the "no work no pay" principle in government institutes, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Tuesday called for a better tie-up with the private sector.

"This will have the advantage of mitigating government capex (capacity expansion), so that extensive infrastructure can be built very quickly. The second advantage would be the application of the 'no service no payment' principle, so that the standards of maintenance always remain high. Thirdly, innovative and cost effective building designs can be deployed through private sector initiatives," Sibal said at a Planning Commission conference in New Delhi.

While advocating public-private partnerships (PPP) in education, Sibal said that at the simplest level, the building of infrastructure for schools and colleges can be outsourced to the private sector.

He added that the refurbishing of older schools in states through the PPP mode is being considered. This will help state governments face budget constraints more efficiently while bettering educational infrastructure.

At the central government level, entrusting construction and maintenance of buildings of Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas through PPP is being considered, Sibal said.

The minister also advocated running educational institutes under the PPP mode, so that the private sector can run school and colleges and get paid on the basis of the number of students sponsored by government, subject to fulfilment of certain performance criteria like examination results, students and teachers' attendance, reduction of dropout rate, excellence in co-curricular activities among others.