BBMP to hire consultants to improve quality of its schools

Following an increase in admissions at BBMP schools post-pandemic, civic officials are designing plans to appoint consultants to monitor the institutions and improve their quality.

The consultants will be retired officials who have worked with either the state or BBMP education departments.

“There are 166 schools and colleges under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and since the admissions are increasing year-on-year, there is a need to monitor and manage the available resources better. The expertise that the consultants bring to the table will help us ensure quality education,” said BBMP Special Commissioner (Education) Preeti Gehlot.

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BBMP sources stressed the need for expert guidance as officials are struggling to implement many of the state government schemes.

“We were unable to implement initiatives like 'nali kali' and many other initiatives by the state government. Going ahead, we will also have to implement the National Education Policy (NEP), and we are hoping that guidance from an expert will help implement the programmes better,” a senior BBMP official said.

Admissions up by 30%

Admissions to the BBMP schools have increased by 30 per cent over the last two years and are expected to grow at a rapid pace this year. However, the resources, including the number of teachers, are inadequate and the BBMP is now planning to fill in the gaps.

Gap analysis

“We are conducting a gap analysis and chalking out the requirements. We are analysing the existing infrastructure to determine the needs to ensure the basic minimum standards are met and maintained,” Preeti said.

Though the BBMP schools have close to 800 teachers, nearly 600 of them work on contract basis. After the last recruitment in 1995, the BBMP has not recruited any permanent teachers to its schools. The department's proposal to recruit 210 permanent teachers is yet to be approved by the Urban Development Department (UDD).