Makeover on a mission mode

The government, with an ambitious plan to upgrade school infrastructure on a massive scale as part of the ‘Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu’ programme, aims at improving learning outcomes and decreasing dropout rate

The ‘Mana Badi Nadu-Nedu’, a unique project to give a boost to school infrastructure, is born out of a firm belief of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy that education is the only solution to ward off poverty and it can also play an equaliser in the society. This transformational programme prioritises school infrastructure to attract maximum students and improve learning outcomes in 44,512 government schools in phases over three years by giving them a makeover on a mission mode. The most impressive feature is that contractors have been kept at bay to prevent corruption and instead, parents have been co-opted as the key stakeholders with a big say in where and how the money is spent. The Parents’ Committees hold weekly meetings to take collective decisions on the procurement of raw materials such as cement, sand, fans, sanitary ware, furniture, paintings and on the release of payments in the presence of the school headmaster, the field engineers and others. The Principal Secretary, School Education, reviews the progress of the works every week.