Liberty Schools : Putting Education on Steroids

PrithwisMukerjee,PhD
PraxisBusinessSchool,Calcutta

TheGreenRevolutionfreedIndiafromthespectreoffaminebyusingtechnologyaggressively
andeffectivelytoboostagriculturalproductivity.OperationFloodmadeIndianotonlyamilk
sufficientnationbutalsotheworldslargestproducerofmilk.Education,ontheotherhand,isstill
oneofIndiasgreatestweaknessesbecausetheGovernmenthasbeenaspectacularfailurein
deliveringevenprimaryeducationtovastswathesofourpopulation.Thedepthofthistragedyis
evidentwhenthePrimeMinisterhastoadmitthatevenafter68yearsofindependence,mostof
ourschoolsdonothavetoiletsletalonelabs,librariesandbroadbandinternet!

WhatweneedistheequivalentofaGreenRevolution,anOperationFloodthatwillgiveahuge,
nonlinear,exponentialboosttoourdeliverymodelsothateducationalservicescanreacheach
andeverycornerofthecountry.Weneedbothquantityandqualityandweneeditinthenext5
years.Isthispossible?

Whynot?

DuringtheSecondWorldWar,GermansubmarinesweresinkingsomanyBritishandAmerican
shipsintheAtlanticthattheentirealliedwareffortwasindangerofcomingtogrindinghalt.
Buildinganewshipwouldalmosttakeayearwhilesinkingitwasamatterofminutes.Inthis
grimscenario,USandBritishshipbuildersworkedtogethertocreateanincrediblestrategythat
allowedtoashiptobelaunchedin24daysanddelivered,onanaverage,in42days.Atitspeak,
in1943,thesixUSshipyardsbetweenthem,weredeliveringthreeshipseveryday!

Thiswasmadepossiblebyusingprefabricatedcomponentsthatwerefreelyinterchangeable
acrossdifferentshipyardsandmathematicalmodels,likelinearprogramming,thatallowed
optimisationofmen,materialsandtimetoachievetheseveryultrahighratesofproductivity.

Letusdothesamewithschools!

Thereare542MPsinIndiaandeachgetsRs5croresundertheMPLADschemeeachyearfor
fiveyears.ThatisRs25crores.LetuskeepapartRs20croresfromeachMPsMPLADfund
anduseittobuildtwonewschoolseachconstituencythismeans1000+newschoolsin5
years!AsanincentivefortheMP,theschoolwillbenamedafterhimorher.Nowcanthat
transformIndiaradically?

Notquite.Iffundscouldtransformacountry,thenIndiawouldhavebecomeaparadisebynow.
TheUnionBudgetpresentedin2013allocatedRs20,000+crorestoprimaryeducationbutno
onereallyknowswhathappenedtothatmoney.Whatweneedinsteadisapowerful
LibertySchools:PuttingEducationonSteroids 1
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managementstructuretoturnthisexpenditureintoatangiblephysicalasset.Whatarethe
componentsofsuchastructure?

1. Amechanismtoidentifyvacantorgovernmentownedlandineachconstituencyand
acquirethesame.
2. Astandarddesignofaschoolbuiltwithprefabricatedcomponentsthatwillinitially
accommodate100studentsinyear1andscaleupto1000studentsin5yearsand5000
studentsin10years.
3. Apartnershipwithatleastthreetofivecivilengineering/constructioncompanieswhowill
haveprefabricationfacilitiesindifferentpartsofthecountrysothat,aftertheinitial
gestationperiod,twoLibertySchoolscanbeinaugurated,somewhereinthecountry,by
aLokSabhaMPeverythreedays!
4. Acentralteachermanagementfacilitythatwillselect10,000postgraduatesacross
variousdisciplineseveryyear,impartabasicteachertrainingcurriculumandsendthem
toteachinthenewschools.
5. AcentralcontentcreationfacilitythatwillusetheCBSEsyllabustocreatetextbooksand
onlinecontentinvariouslocallanguages.
6. Apublicsectorcompany,letuscallitBharatVidyaNigam,similartoIOCL,NTPCorSBI
butreportingdirectlytotheHRDministry,thatdrivethisprocessthroughateamof
professionalmanagershiredatcompetitivesalariesfromthemarket.

SpendingMPLADmoney(thatistaxpayersmoney)tosetupschoolsisonething,butrunning
themefficientlyisanothermatter.Toguardagainsttheunfortunaterealitythatmostgovernment
institutionsdegenerateovertimeandtopreventtoomuchofcentralisation,theseLiberty
SchoolsmustbeplacedinaBOOTframeworkbuild,own,operateandtransfer.Butunlikea
normalBOOTwhereprivateplayersbuildinfrastructureandthentransferthesametopublic
bodies,theprocessinthiscasewillbereversed.

Letusnowlookattheoperationalaspectofrunningtheseschools.

Aftertenyearsofoperation,theLibertyschoolswillbeauctionedoff,inafair,honestand
transparentmannertoanyentrepreneurialorganisationthatwillberuntheschoolasaprivate
limitedcompanywiththestipulationthatbetween26%49%oftheequityinthecompanywillbe
heldbyatrustwhosetrusteeswillbeelectedbytheparentsofthestudentswhoarecurrently
studyingintheschool.Thiswillensurethattheinterestsoftheprimarystakeholder,thatisthe
student,isservedadequately.

Educationwillnotbefreeandtuitionfeeswillbedeterminedonthebasisofactualoperating
expenses.Howeverupto90%ofthefeesofspecificstudentschosenonthebasisof
economicandsocialparameterswillbesubsidisedbyaconsortiumofcentral,state,
municipalandevennongovernmentalfundingagencies.Forexample,ifthereare1000students
inaschool,theCentralGovernmentmaysupport200,theStateGovernmentanother200and
othersanother50.Sointhiscase,45%studentswillhave90%oftheirfeesreimbursedthrough
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adirecttransferofbenefitstoabankaccountattachedtotheirAadharcard,butdependingon
localcircumstances,theseratioswouldbedifferentineachschoolorstate.Thecriteriafor
selectingstudentsforsubsidyandthedistributionofthesubsidywillbemanagedcentrallywith
theconcurrenceoflocalstakeholdersandwouldbedoneinamannerthatistransparenttothe
public.

Forfartoolong,theeducationalestablishmentinIndiahasbeencomfortablychewingthecudof
publicmoneyandgenerouslygeneratingtonnesofbovineexcreta,whichisnodoubtveryuseful
incertaincircumstances.Butnowthetimehascometothinkbig,thinkdifferent,takealittlerisk,
pumpinsomehighpowersteroidsandmakeitproducesomerealmilkthatwillnourishour
youthwithrealknowledge.LetuskickstartatotallyneweraofpubliceducationinIndia.
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