RBSE announces cash prize to boost quality education

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Jaipur: In a bid to promote quality education in government schools, the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) has decided to award 74 government schools a maximum reward of Rs 50,000 and minimum of Rs 25,000 for producing exemplary results in different fields of education. 
    The cash prize will be given to selected schools in a programme on February 3. These schools were divided into three categories - state level, divisional level and district level. 
    This initiative was taken by board chairman Subhash Garg aiming to encourage other schools to achieve excellence in education. The education department has selected these government schools on the basis of 11 parameters which include results, sports, cultural activities and utilisation of government funds, etc. 
    The schools will have to spend 60% of the amount on improvement of educational standards, Garg said during the press briefing. He also expressed the urgent need for connecting state schools with EDUSAT (educational satellite). “This will put our education system in sync with the latest in the world, besides helping us monitor schools,” he said. 
    Garg said such technology will bring a sea change in functioning of schools in the remote areas. Elaborating on the functioning of Edusat, he said fully-equipped studios will telecast programmes in nearly 40 to 50 schools. These studious will act as big classrooms, where students will be provided lectures through live videos or documentaries. 
    The board has already sent a proposal to the Centre seeking funds to link every government school with Edusat. The project will require an annual recurring cost of Rs 60 crore besides Rs 650 crore for setting up the system in all 20,000 RBSE schools. 
    “It will connect us with all different boards in India besides government programme,” Garg added. The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore. The Union and state government will together bear the cost of the project. 
    Garg hopes that once it is done it will change the face of the board with students getting an access to quality education. “It will help us in preventing private schools from shifting to other boards like CBSE /ICSE,” added Garg. Records show that on an average 8 to 10 state board schools shift to CBSE or ICSE board.