As part of young MP’s Bengaluru South Education and Social Transformation (BEST) programme, students will get 60,000 guides & 60,000 workbooks
BENGALURU:
Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya on Thursday announced that his office would distribute more than 1.2 lakh books for the academic needs of SSLC students in his Bengaluru South constituency.
The initiative is part of his Bengaluru South Education and Social Transformation (BEST) programme, which is aimed at improving the learning outcomes of SSLC students and the standards of education in Bengaluru South. Formally launching the second edition of the BEST programme at the Dayananda Sagar University Auditorium, Surya announced that Class 10 students of government schools in his constituency would get 60,000 guidebooks and 60,000 workbooks for their SSLC exam preparations. A soft copy of the guidebook would subsequently be made available for others.
“For a city that has the highest density of PhD holders, it was sad to see that Bengaluru South figures among the worst performing districts in SSLC examinations,” Surya said during the launch. “Be it poverty or unemployment, the lack of education or access to it is the root cause of economic deprivation. We have also seen that most students who fail the SSLC exams drop out of the education system itself. It is our objective to work for all those underperforming Class 10 students, give them a fillip and uplift them through education. No work can have a more lasting impact of 30-40 years on a child than his education. It is with this renewed spirit that we are conducting the BEST programme,” Surya added.
Revamp of schools
Through the programme, the MP’s office will also adopt 8 government schools in Bengaluru South. The 8 schools will be turned into model schools where the MP’s office will oversee the standardisation of content, digitalisation of classrooms and the renovation of school infrastructure. The BEST project will also impart training for around 800 government-employed teachers of Bengaluru South and rope in 3,000 volunteers from the public to provide one-to-one mentorship for Class 10 students.
BEST programme launch – Bengaluru South Education and Social Transformation, an initiative of Tejasvi Surya https://t.co/UU8JNVTCij
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) March 4, 2021
The BEST programme was launched last year to improve Bengaluru South’s standing in the state in the SSLC examinations. In its initial avatar, the BEST project witnessed volunteer teachers conduct special classes for underperforming students in over 100 schools of Bengaluru South. Online revision classes were also held by expert teachers for students before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Guidebooks titled ‘Sanjeevini’ were distributed to 10,000 students and released online upon the request of students from other cities. Subsequently, the standing of Bengaluru South improved by 3 rankings in a year that saw the pandemic disrupt academics and examinations.
Govt support
“Bengaluru South Education District ranks about fifth or sixth from the bottom. It is a situation that we must all ponder upon. The BEST programme will go a long way in improving the standing of Bengaluru South and from the Department (of Education), we are extending complete support to the MP for this noble initiative,” said S Rajendra, DDPI South.
