BENGALURU: Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the state is pushing a new model in which companies adopt primary schools in villages through their CSR funds, as part of an effort to curb migration from rural areas to cities.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with IT companies and school managements on Wednesday evening, he said, "We are coming forward with a new model of adopting primary village schools through CSR funds." He said some firms had already begun. "We have adopted 30 schools in my district itself. They are spending about Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore. They are building government schools and handing them over to the government in their names."
He named Prestige and Embassy among the institutions that have taken part in Bengaluru district and said the government wants to take the model beyond it. "We want to see that only panchayat schools become stronger," he said.
The Chief Minister linked the plan to urbanisation. "People are moving to cities only for education and employment," he said, adding that the urban population share has risen from about 29-30% to 43-44%. A review received a day earlier, he said, indicated it could cross 70% by 2047. "That is why we want to provide them with quality education in villages themselves."
He said school managements had also been asked to adopt one more institution each. "If they are running one school, they should adopt another school... We are asking for support, not financial assistance."
The pitch ties education policy to a larger concern: unplanned urban growth that strains housing, water and transport in cities like Bengaluru. Corporate CSR gives the state a way to add classrooms without drawing only on the budget, and the early school adoptions suggest some firms are willing.
