Nishant Saxena
The Uttar Pradesh government is considering a new policy that would allow secondary schools affiliated with the UP Board to rent out their premises for private events. This move could generate new sources of income for the schools to cover expenses such as building and furniture maintenance. The department of secondary education in UP has drafted a policy and is seeking suggestions from the public. Suggestions can be sent to schoolincomesuggestion@gmail.com by January 27.
The proposal has been posted on the official websites of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad and the state secondary education department. The policy suggests that schools can generate funds by using their own resources, such as renting out their premises for weddings and other celebrations during school holidays, hosting events like sports and cultural activities on vacant school land, planting crops on free land, running nursery or Montessori classes, offering computer vocational training after school hours, and developing commercial gym and swimming pool facilities on campus.
A committee at the district level will be set up to consider proposals and grant permission. These six-member committees will be headed by the district magistrate and include the chief development officer, district inspector of schools, finance and accounts officer, manager, and principal of the school.
Schools must first get the proposal approved by the general body of their management committees and then send it to the district-level committees for approval. The approval will only be given to proposals that do not impact the regular teaching and learning of the school and do not lead to permanent or semi-permanent construction.
The schools will also need to agree to have their earning accounts audited by a chartered accountant and provide them to the committee for scrutiny, and upload them on their official websites for transparency.