GREATER TRANSPARENCY
NGOs will get easier access to civic schools
Anahita Mukherji | TNN
Mumbai: NGOs and philanthropists in the city may no longer need to run from
pillar to post doing the rounds of ‘sarkari’ offices every time they want to
lend a helping hand to BMC schools. Civic authorities plan to set up a
Private Partnership Cell (PPC) in the BMC education office in Dadar by next
week. This will serve as a single window for NGOs wanting to help municipal
schools.
The PPC, which will be headed by an officer of the rank of
superintendent, will have a fax machine, internet connection and a telephone, making it easily accessible. Mumbai’s nearly 1,200 civic schools are plagued by problems of poor infrastructure, and high dropout rates. Aid from NGOs is part of a larger plan to provide a better quality of education to the 4,74,000 students, most of whom come from
socially disadvantaged sections.
“NGOs can send in their applications to the PPC stating the services
they can offer. The PPC can then relay the message to civic schools.
Teachers and principals from schools that require the services can give
their consent and speedily avail of the facilities,” said SS Shinde, deputy
municipal commissioner (Education). He feels not only will this system make
it easier for NGOs to donate to civic schools, it will also help get aid
across only to places where it is required. A problem commonly faced by NGOs
is the lack of any single sanctioning authority, which can give them
permission to help out in civic schools. “NGOs usually approach schools
directly. However, schools do not have the authority to sanction them,”
added Shinde.
Though NGOs have welcomed the move, they hope that it will be
implemented in a fool-proof manner. “A single window for NGOs has to be
empowered with all the necessary information in an accessible format. It
will have to capture a huge database. Civic authorities should get a
timebound list of requirements from each school and enter it into a central
database, striking off the requirements as and when they are provided by
NGOs,” said K Sriram, project manager, Akanksha, an NGO working in the
field of education.
Simantini Dhuru, director, Avehi-Abacus, another educational NGO, “Such
a system has been in existence partially with the BMC education department’s
Community Development Project. But this body has very little decision-making
power,” she said.
A centralised body regulating NGOs will bring about greater
transparency, Dhuru added.