THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A few months from now, the Education Department will have a solid database on the requirements of all schools in the state, be it additional buildings, toilets or playgrounds, thanks to the wholesome school development plan to be drawn up by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), ahead of the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in the state. The plan is part of the vision document to be prepared by SSA, the implementing agency of RTE Act in the state. The preparation of a vision document has been laid out in the Central norms for RTE Act implementation. The document not only envisages a wholesome school development plan, but also a three-year perspective plan which dwells upon the steps to be taken to lay ground for the implementation of RTE Act by 2013. According to SSA state project director K M Ramanandan, the infrastructure layout in schools needs to be updated with the requirements of RTE, if the idea of education to all has to be carried out effectively. ‘’The wholesome school development plan will take stock of the infrastructure facilities in schools, what they lack, what they urgently require, the type of repairs to be carried out and so on. It will introduce the concept of ‘Building As a Learning Aid (BALA)’ which even specifies how a school garden should look like and where it should be created,’’ says Ramanandan. A former IAS officer and an academician, Ramanandan came to the helm of affairs a few weeks ago. According to him, SSA will make use of its 159 Block Resource Centres (BRCs) across the state for the development of the plan. Programme Officers and engineers in the block-level will collaborate with school authorities to compile the data. The SSA will issue guidelines to school authorities and BRCs to make the compilation easy and transparent. The three-year perspective plan will focus more on the coordinated efforts to be made in the infrastructure development of schools. ‘’At present, the SSA fund, MLA fund and MP fund are spent without any coordination. How it could be used for the wholesome development of a particular school’s infrastructure development would be the thrust area,’’ Ramanandan said. It is exactly where BALA would come in handy. The way buildings could be made friendly for the differently-abled would also be pondered in the plan. The other requirements, including mid-day meal scheme for children, training for teachers, free books and uniforms and orientation programme for faculties put forward by the RTE have already been achieved by the state.
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