Teach India: Govt schools can do a great job too

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) that oversees Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) has established itself as India's top brand in the education sector, outshining even Delhi Public School (DPS) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)

KVs and the rural Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (JNV) schools have managed to consistently outperform all other Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in the board exams

KVs boast alumni like astronaut Rakesh Sharma, ace shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, actresses Priyanka Chopra and Sushmita Sen. Pupils have also gone on to work in NASA, Intel, IBM and Microsoft

It is a widely accepted truth in middle-class drawing rooms that a good (read private) school is one that costs a bomb. Government schools, which don't charge an arm and a leg, have become synonymous with ramshackle infrastructure, missing teachers and abysmal standards. Turning this belief on its head are two remarkable government institutions: the KVs and JNVs.

KVs: We need more

According to The Economic Times' 2008 ranking of the Top 50 Service Brands of India, the KVS (ranked 27) outshines even DPS (32) and the IITs (38). In fact, KVS — an autonomous institution which comes under the Union HRD ministry — has maintained its position as the number one service brand in the education sector in India for the last five years. Not surprising given its Class X and XII board results are comparable to the best private schools in the metros. Incidentally, this year's class X CBSE topper is a KVite.

"Our schools are not elitist," says KVS joint commissioner (administration) Pragya Richa Srivastava. "Nearly 75% of parents of our students are first-generation literates. Besides, unlike private schools with cut-offs of 90%, we don't even have an entrance test. Our students represent raw talent." Since its inception in 1965, KVS has provided education to children of transferable central government employees, including defence and paramilitary personnel.

So what's made the KVs a benchmark? A winning combination of unfettered autonomy and generous grants that ensure good infrastructure, well-stocked libraries and computers with internet connections.

"The KV model needs to be replicated in all schools," says former NCERT director J S Rajput.

No wonder that top government officials still choose the KVs over elite schools. In the last five years, enrollment has gone up substantially. "Every block in India should have a model school like KV. And that is what our ministry is striving towards," says D Purandeswari, minister of state for human resource development. The government is also looking at setting up 2,500 schools across the country on the KV model.

"Private players are commercialising school education। Government schools, if promoted in the right manner, can give them a run for their money," adds Rajput.

When it comes to the villages, the one school system that seems to have worked is the JNV. Spread across the most remote locations in the country, these 565 residential schools boast the best pass percentage in the CBSE system since 2001. According to CBSE sources, JNVs secured a remarkable 97.54% and 92.44% in this year's class X and XII boards as compared to the national average of 87.08% and 80.91%.

And results aren't the only thing JNVs can be proud of. Its alumni have made it to IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as well as the civil service. Quite creditable if one takes into account the deprived background of these students. A survey conducted in 2007 found the annual income of fathers of 74% of JNV pupils to be less than Rs 48,000.

So, what is the secret of the JNV model? According to Avtar Singh, head, department of measurement and evaluation, CBSE, "They are run by one single nodal agency and a focused team of managers. What helped JNVs is that they are residential schools and teachers personally attend to each student's needs. Moreover, the quality of faculty has also made a difference."

JNVs admit students into class VI and then provide them free boarding, lodging and education till class XII. Despite the focus on academics, there's no compromise on sports facilities, computer labs with internet, fine arts, music and dance training.

"While urban children take things like an internet connection for granted, for these children it is a motivation to perform. They seldom get such opportunities in their villages,"says Rajput. "This is one of the finest models of school education ever conceived."

Besides, JNVs also promote national integration by providing opportunities to talented children from different parts of the country to live and learn together. At present, there are over 1.9 lakh students enrolled in different JNVs, of which 35.13% are girls.

According to Niranjan Singh, joint commissioner (academics), JNVS: "Quality education is available only in the urban areas, and that too exclusive to the affluent class. But JNVs are for rural children with special talent and aptitude but no money."

"Another learning experience is that students get to change schools in class XI and attend a new JNV, generally between Hindi and non-Hindi speaking districts. This migration scheme enables them to better understand the diversity of India's culture and people. It has played a vital role in the personality development of our students and in nation building as well. Besides, students get to learn the local language of that region," added Singh of JNVS, the central government agency that manages the schools.