Bengaluru: The department of school education and literacy has formulated guidelines for community and corporate social responsibility (CSSR), through which it hopes to develop 1,000 Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) in the state.The department is inviting corporates, NGOs or communities for the establishment of new (greenfield) public schools or development of existing (brownfield) ones, including provision of physical infrastructure and maintenance for a minimum of three years or more.They can establish science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) laboratories, computer labs and libraries; provide qualified teachers, school transportation facilities, skill education programmes or build smart classrooms and deploy trained human resources for their operation. They can also contribute to the KPS corpus fund.The money will not be sent to the govt or schools, but to the implementing agency. There will be a grievance redressal mechanism to address complaints. In an incentive model, the govt will permit the donor to have its name associated with the school. This model is already in practice in the state.In 2024-25, the department received Rs 352 crore in CSR funds for infrastructure development, teacher training, digital education and other initiatives.The department has released the list of 1,000 govt schools identified for upgradation into KPS. The govt aims at building a corpus fund in 2,500 public schools, including the existing ones.However, the department’s move has not gone down well with several stakeholders. “The creation of the KPS corpus fund is proof that the govt is systematically retreating from its responsibility towards education. It is highly dangerous to leave schools dependent on such discretionary donations without allocating adequate funds for education in the state budget. The govt has no answer to the question of what will happen to these schools and the future of their teachers once the contract period expires and companies pull out,” said AIDSO Karnataka state committee.
