GMS Kothi Bagh gets major facelift
Srinagar, Oct 27: Government Middle School (GMS) Kothi Bagh has witnessed a major facelift with the inauguration of a new building constructed with the support of Faizal and Shabana Foundation (FSF).
The inauguration ceremony was attended by the J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha as the chief guest, who lauded the initiative as a milestone in advancing inclusive and equitable education in the region.
The FSF, a private philanthropy focused on rebuilding underserved public schools in an effort to level the playing field for poorer students, in 2023 took up Kothi Bagh School as a pilot project.
The project, under a Public–Private Partnership (PPP) mode marks the expansion of FSF's celebrated Nadakkavu Model from Kerala to J&K.
The Nadakkavu Model is a movement in public education reform rooted in design, innovation, and empathy.
The project has been launched at a time when the government schools are facing acute dearth of infrastructure. The move is a positive step towards building the educational infrastructure, empowering the youth, and ensuring social inclusion.
The newly constructed school building of the GMS Kothi Bagh addresses both infrastructure and educator capability to ensure sustainable and measurable improvement in student performance and community confidence.
The building features modern state-of-the-art classrooms, advanced Robotics and STEM laboratories and sustainable infrastructure, providing students with an inspiring space to learn, grow, and excel.
Greater Kashmir reported in 2023 that the School Education Department (SED) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) FSF to transform the education sector and meet global standards.
The focus of the foundation is to improve the standards of education from kindergarten to class 12th. Besides infrastructural development and academics, the FSF focuses on the capacity building of teachers as well.
Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the inaugural function, Faizal said they have studied the gaps in government schools and the reasons why people prefer private schools over government schools.
"Most of the children study in private schools because the quality is not good in government schools. So we decided that we cannot make the quality of education best in government schools and all the children can have a free education," he told reporters here. He said the J&K LG inaugurated phase I of the initiative and they aim to bring an educational revolution in J&K.
"I will meet the Chief Minister and discuss how we can go ahead further. It is not just about a building alone; we need to develop the whole system. We wanted to train the teachers; we need to see the gap analysis," he said.
He said it is a systematic approach FSF does to bring reforms in the education sector. "I visited various areas in Srinagar and interacted with people. Everybody here wants good quality education and good quality health care," he said.
He said FSF has been involved in these sectors in Kerala as well. "We partnered with the government to take the government schools to international standards. I spoke to the LG Manoj Sinha two years ago and discussed that we wanted to start the same model in J&K, starting with Kothi Bagh school," he said.
