Not aware of any notice proposing PPP model for schools: Bengal education minister

Kolkata: West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Saturday said he did not have information about any draft prepared by his department, proposing a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for schools, a day after Left-leaning organisations threatened to wage a protest against any such move.

An unsigned and undated notice, bearing the school education department's name, surfaced on social media recently, stating that the government, as part of its expansion plans, intended to operationalise schools through a PPP model. Basu, talking to reporters here at an event, stated that no meeting was held in this regard by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and it would be wrong to make assertions by anyone based on speculations.

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"I don't have information of any such draft or notice. The chief minister did not discuss anything in this matter with me. So what is the basis?" the minister said. Asked if the notice was a fake one, Basu, however, said, "We will look into it."

A senior education department official had told PTI on Friday that its principal secretary Manish Jain, in a letter to heads of other allied departments, had last month sought their opinion on the PPP model for schools.

The official had also noted that the government, in the face of protests, would now "carefully watch the situation" before making a move. The draft that was circulated on social media said, "Whereas, to merge the best practices of both government and private schools, the School Education Department, Government of West Bengal (GoWB), intends to operationalize schools through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and leverage unused infrastructure of the government.

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"Whereas, a need is felt to encourage the private investors in school education sector by extending more flexible Government contribution in the form of Public Private Partnership mode, where the State Government may provide land or building or infrastructures and other amenities to the investors.”

Several Left-affiliated organisations of students and teachers, including the SFI, had on Friday stated that they would stage protests in different schools and colleges if the government went ahead with any such plan. The agitators claimed that the idea, if implemented, would deprive many students, especially the underprivileged ones, of basic education, with private players calling the shots.