Government of Rajasthan Partners with Piramal School of Leadership to Create a Model of Excellence for School Education in Jhunjhunu

by Suman Gupta

• Signs MoU to improve education for students from pre-primary to secondary levels and develop Jhunjhunu district as an ‘Innovation Hub for Excellence in School Education’ in India

• Aims to make Jhunjhunu the first district to be PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) ready in India

• Deploys a cutting-edge curriculum to make students Socially, Emotionally and Ethically enabled

• Aims to provide intensive support to key district, block and cluster level officers, 250 Headmasters, 500 Teachers and 100 Councillors, creating ‘Future Ready’ education leaders, students, systems, and processes.

Jaipur, Rajasthan | Monday, December 9, 2019: Government of Rajasthan and Piramal School of Leadership (PSL), an initiative of Piramal Foundation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to transform Jhunjhunu district into an ‘Innovation Hub for Excellence in School Education’, over a period of 5 years. The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Govind Singh Dotasara, Hon. Minister of Education (Primary & Secondary Education), Government of Rajasthan; Smt. Manju Rajpal, Secretary, School Education Department & Language, Library Department and Panchayati Raj (Elementary Education) Department; Shri. Pradeep Kumar Borad, Commissioner, School Education and Rajasthan School Shikhsa Parishad and Special Secretary; Shri. Abhishek Bhagotia, State Project Director, Samgra Shiksha and Additional Commissioner, Rajasthan Shiksha Parishad; Paresh Parasnis, CEO, Piramal Foundation; and Manmohan Singh, Director, Piramal School of Leadership. The occasion was graced by Addl State Project Director (I &II), Deputy Commissioner (I to VII), and all Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors in Samgra Shiksha.

Mr. Govind Singh Dotasara, Hon. Minister of Education (Primary & Secondary Education), Government of Rajasthan said, “The Government of Rajasthan is committed to institutional and systemic reforms to improve the standard of Education through Samagra Shiksha (SS), with an aim to equip our most important resource – children. We are delighted to collaborate with Piramal School of Leadership, and are confident that this partnership will unlock the potential of our students to play a crucial role in shaping the world in the 21^st century. Jhunjhunu is a torch bearer in the field of education in India and is amongst the highest performing districts of the country. We aim to implement a model that promotes all round development of children from the age of 3 to 18, and make Jhunjhunu a replicable model across 723 other districts in India.”

Dr. Swati Piramal, Vice-Chairperson, Piramal Group said, “We are delighted to extend our ongoing partnership with the Rajasthan Government in their endeavour to promote quality education, life skills and vocational education for all-round development of children. We have a long standing history with Rajasthan and are pleased to be part of the journey in creating models of excellence in the state’s school education system.”

Commenting on this partnership, Manmohan Singh, Director, Piramal School of Leadership said, “We take this occasion to reinforce our commitment to work in collaboration with the Government of Rajasthan. This MoU heralds a new era in our partnership as we envisage to make Jhunjhunu a model district for education excellence in India by implementing several new practices of global standards across early childhood education, socio-emotional learning, entrepreneurship education, and holistic child development.”

This partnership is focused on unlocking the potential of the district and equipping students to be the best in the country, and also globally. It aims to raise ‘Future Ready’ children by focusing on strengthening leadership capabilities of School, Block and District leaders, and incubating innovation to improve the emotional resilience and ability of students to thrive in dynamic environments, nurture their creativity, and build essential competencies such as collaboration and compassion. The various interventions are designed to innovate education across early childhood by strengthening Aanganwadi integration, focusing on Foundational Learning in Class 1-5, PISA readiness in classes 6-10 and Career Guidance and Entrepreneurship Development in secondary education.

The MoU will focus on two pillars to support district administration to impact all elementary and secondary schools in a phased manner through:

1)      Demonstration Schools: Interventions to improve school processes in early childhood education, foundational skill development, PISA readiness, social-emotional and ethical learning, and livelihood & employability education

2)      District Transformation: Coach leadership development, facilitator development, planning and governance support, community engagement, and process improvement

On the occasion of this partnership, an observation study report on ‘Baste Ka Bojh Kam’, a unique initiative by Government of Rajasthan, was launched by Mr. Govind Singh Dotasara and Paresh Parasnis.

Since 2008 the District Administration, with the support of Piramal School of Leadership, has embarked on a path that has enabled Jhunjhunu to become a high performing district across India (as per NCERTs National Achievement Survey 2017). A third party evaluation also shows a 20% increase in student learning outcomes for class 3 and 5. A landmark campaign ‘Apna Bacha Apna Vidyalaya’ increased enrolment by over 15,000 students, of which nearly 6,000 were those that returned to government schools from private schools. Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned this on his radio broadcast ‘Mann ki Baat’, in February 2017, and NITI Aayog documented this as a Best Practice. Several other innovations including ‘No Bag Day’ to promote exciting activities and attendance in schools, ‘Collector ki Class’ to increase ownership of administrators and ‘Community Bal Sabha’ to improve community involvement and socio-emotional skills in children, have generated a positive momentum in the community, amongst middle managers and teachers and impacted students.

About Piramal School of Leadership:Piramal School of Leadership (PSL), an initiative under the aegis of Piramal Foundation, is catalysing transformation in the Indian Public Education System, to impact learning outcomes of children by building leadership skills of Education Officials, developing research-based innovative interventions, re-engineering administrative systems through technology, strengthening human resource processes, forging Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and collaborating with like-minded organizations.

PSL started its interventions in 2008, with the aim to improve learning outcomes in public school across India by supporting public education system leaders towards self and systemic behavioural change.

PSL is present in 14 Indian states across 50,000+ schools, impacting over 50 Million lives.

About Piramal Foundation:Piramal Foundation is a Section 8 company that develops innovative solutions to resolve issues that are critical roadblocks towards unlocking India’s economic potential. The Piramal Group’s core values of Knowledge, Action Care and Impact guide the organisation in carrying out its responsibilities towards society. It believes that considerable positive change can occur when we collaborate with like-minded partners and nurture projects that are scalable, ensuring a long-term impact. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, the Piramal Foundation is focused on universal primary education, empowering women, reducing child mortality rates, improving maternal health and improving access to safe drinking water.

Piramal Foundation has partnered with NITI Aayog, India’s Premier Policy Think Tank, to transform socio-economic parameters such as Healthcare & Nutrition and Education in 25 Aspirational Districts across 7 states in India.

The Foundation currently works across 21 states and has impacted over 100 million lives, mostly in partnership with state governments. It has developed innovative approaches and programs and has built strong partnerships with governments, technology partners and international organizations, including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Harvard Graduate School of Education and World Diabetes Foundation. The projects are implemented through Piramal Swasthya, Piramal School of Leadership and Piramal Sarvajal.