To improve the quality of education and attract more students to the state schools in Maharashtra the government has marked 300 Zilla Parishad schools which will be turned into ‘model schools’.

According to officials, the state government plans to provide and promote merit in education, good academic standards and overall development of children in these school, an Indian Express report said.

A government notification from the state said that the main aim behind such initiative was to attract parents to these schools and create an atmosphere where students willingly come to schools even on Saturdays and Sundays and take part in school activities.

The government also aims to build an administrative set up where teachers enjoy teaching and stay at one school for a tenure of at least five years.

The government notification also stated that as basic levels of reading, writing and computational skills will be essential for students, libraries should provide diverse books and initiatives to encourage creative and critical thinking. The notification also said that every Saturday would be declared as a ‘bag free day’ in order to reduce stress among the students.

As per the guidelines of the New Education Policy, these model schools will have all the facilities such as independent toilets, drinking water facilities, well-maintained buildings and classrooms, playgrounds, sports equipment, ICT labs, science labs and libraries. These schools will function as a ‘school complex’, wherein other schools and teachers can use their facilities.

The plan to develop such model schools was announced early in March this year and schools with classes I to VII have been chosen from each taluka to fulfill the plan.

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