Nagpur: To deal with the crumbling infrastructure of government schools, Maharashtra on Monday announced an adopt-a-school policy, which will allow private individuals, trusts and corporates to take guardianship of schools for either 5 or 10 years. The donors may also get a chance to add their name to the school for the period of the guardianship, if they meet certain spending threshold for the school.The state government has approved two categories of guardianship, general and name-based special guardianship, both of which have the 5-year or 10-year option. The general guardianship comes with a simple requirement that the donor take care of whatever demands the school may have for the guardianship period.For the name-based special guardianship, the donors have to meet spending thresholds, which differ based on the area in which the school is located. The donor can propose a name of their choice to the school management, and it will be added either at the start or the end of the existing name. The state government has made it clear that the existing name will be intact, and only addition to it can be made either as prefix or suffix. After the guardianship period ends, and if its not renewed, the added name will be removed.Those interested in adopting a school have to apply in person to the school management, which in turn will move the application through the bureaucratic channels.For scrutinizing and taking a decision on donor applications, a state-level and regional-level committees have been formed. The state-level committee will be headed by education commissioner while the regional committees will be headed by the respective jurisdictional heads (municipal commissioner, collector or ZP CEO), based on the schools location.The government has also ruled out inclusion of any donor, or their representative, in any decision-making process of the school. In fact, the state has categorically mentioned in its circular on Monday that no intervention by donors will be allowed.The application process will go online in a few months and will be linked to the central governments database as well, so that donors from across the country can select schools which are available for adoption. All donors will have to meet certain criteria, which includes individuals not having serious criminal background, and corporates and trusts registered with the concerned authorities.We also published the following articles recentlyDaughter seeks guardianship of mother with Alzheimers, HC orders med reportThe Bombay High Court has ordered a neurologist from J J Hospital to examine a woman with Alzheimers disease after her daughter filed a petition to be appointed as her legal guardian. The daughter claims that her mother is unable to take care of herself and needs round-the-clock monitoring and assistance. The court acknowledged the lack of provisions in current laws for appointing a guardian for individuals with mental health issues and requested medical evidence to establish the mothers condition. The neurologists report is expected to be submitted within a week.Govt schools in state can now be adopted by private & public sector for 5 or 10 yearsGovernment schools in the state of Mumbai can now be adopted by private and public sector entities for a period of five or ten years. This initiative is part of the National Education Policys Vidyanjali program, which aims to strengthen schools through community and private sector involvement across the country. Corporate houses can adopt schools using their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, and a memorandum of understanding will be signed between the schools and the corporate entities to support and enhance the government schools. Different monetary commitments are required based on the category of municipal corporation.Nitish opens school named after his wifeChief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated a girls higher secondary school in Bakhtiyarpur, Patna district, named after his late wife Manju Sinha. The school was expanded by merging land from the Bakhtiyarpur police station premises. Kumar expressed happiness over the enrollment of over 2,000 girls in the school and assured that he would recommend an adequate number of teachers. He also emphasized the importance of maintaining the new buildings and cleanliness on campus.

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