Karnataka Plans 1,000 New Model Schools with Corporate and Community Funding

The Karnataka government has announced a major initiative to upgrade and develop 1,000 government schools as Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) over the next two years. The project will be funded through Community and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCSR) contributions, according to official guidelines released recently.

The new KPS schools will be established in gram panchayats, urban local bodies, and areas under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) that currently lack such institutions. As an incentive, contributing organisations will be allowed to co-brand their name with the school they support.

To oversee the initiative, the government has set up a three-tier monitoring framework. The Karnataka State CCSR Monitoring Committee is chaired by the Chief Minister, with the Deputy Chief Minister as vice-chairman, and includes relevant ministers and senior officers. The School Education CCSR Cell is led by the departmental commissioner, while district-level cells are chaired by the district collector, and the GBA cell by the GBA chief commissioner.

Currently, 325 KPS schools are operational across the state. In the current academic year, the government is also developing 500 KPS clusters with assistance of about ₹2,000 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) is working to improve learning quality for the roughly four million students in government schools and pre-university colleges (Classes 1 to 12).

Each KPS school serves about 1,200 students from 8 to 15 surrounding villages. The schools offer education in Kannada and English bilingual medium from pre-school to Class 12, with emphasis on computer education, skill training aligned with industry requirements, and special classes for competitive examinations. The government aims to establish one KPS school in every gram panchayat and provide free school transport to ensure accessibility.

In the financial year 2024-25, an estimated ₹352 crore in CCSR contributions have been disbursed across the state for initiatives including infrastructure development, teacher training, and digital education support. The new KPS expansion aims to scale up this partnership model further.