Model school for the masses

ENACTUS (formerly SIFE) prizewinning solution for problem statement "Design a school for a low income community which should be self- sustainable, not dependent on donations, provide quality education and not harm the environment" 

By Geetika, Ishita and Siddhant Sadangi, KIIT University

Assumptions:

·         200 families in the community.

·         100 school going children.

·         A primary school is the foremost priority.

·         School has 2 rooms available, each with a floor area of 150 sq foot.

A proper school should have the following facilities:

1.       Adequate classrooms

2.       A student-teacher ratio of not more than 40.

3.       Drinking water and toilet facilities

4.       Financially stable.

Let us address these issues.

1)      First we will need some capital for basic infrastructure. To maintain a student-teacher ratio of 40, we will need one more classroom having a floor area of 100 sq foot. This can be achieved at a cost of Rs 25,000.

2)      Next is the staff. There would a permanent teaching staff of three retired teachers, who would a paid a nominal token salary of Rs 2500 per month each. The school will follow Gandhiji’s “Sevashram” model. The students will be divided into groups and maintenance of the school will be allotted to them on a weekly basis. This will not only instil a spirit of hard work among the children but also cut on the staff costs. Thus, the total staff costs can be limited to about Rs 7500 per month.

3)      Now comes the drinking water and sanitation part. To provide all around supply to clean drinking water, rainwater harvesting systems can be installed. 17 million litres of rainwater can be harvested annually for an investment of Rs. 45,000. A low cost purification system developed by BARC costs just Rs 600, purifies 10 litres of water per hour at a cost of just 5 paise per litre. This doesn’t use any energy and works on the principle of reverse osmosis. It can also support the nearby families. Considering 6 hours working day, and 20 working days in a month, and adding the cost of spares, the total monthly cost comes to be a maximum of Rs.  100. The initial investment for the entire system is not more than Rs 46,000.

Regarding sanitation. The school will need a separate toilet for boys and girls. ECOSAN (ECOlogical SANitation) toilets, commonly known as compost pit latrines, developed by UNICEF and implemented in Tamil Nadu, cost just Rs. 6000 per unit. Water requirements can be met by the rainwater harvesting system. Thus, the school’s sanitation needs can be solved for an investment of Rs. 12,000.

4)      Now comes the financial stability of the school. Since all the students come from the same background, a school uniform won’t be necessary. Primary level subsidised textbooks cost about Rs 150 per child. An investment of Rs 15,000 will get textbooks for all the students. Also, a novel way of teaching the children the importance of saving paper would be to collect the blank pages of notebooks at the end of an academic year and teach the children to bind them into new notebooks. Even the textbooks can be reused atleast once, so the annual investment on stationary comes to be Rs 8000.  There will be a “Craft” period weekly for the students, where they can prepare clay models, bamboo crafts, etc. These crafts can be sold for a profit of about Rs. 700 per month. Not only will this will cut on costs, but also teach a vocational skills to the students. Considering a nominal monthly fees of Rs 100 per child, the school will generate a total of Rs 10,700 per month.

Finances:

Initial investment:

Item	Investment (in Rs)
Infrastructure	25,000
Drinking water	46,000
Sanitation	12,000
Total	83,000

Taking everything into account the total initial investment for the school comes to be about Rs 83,000. Adding a reserve of Rs 2,000 for contingencies, the investment will not exceed Rs 85,000. Now we have to arrange for this cash. If divided equally between the 200 families, it comes to be a one-time investment of Rs 425 per family.

The annual investment for stationary is Rs 8000, which means Rs 40 per family, annually.

Monthly Income:

Item	Income (in Rs.)
Salaries	-7500
Water purification	-100
Fees	10,000
Crafts	700
Total	3100

The school generates Rs 3100 at the end of each month. Taking contingencies into account, we still have Rs 3000 left at the end of each month. This money, if distributed equally among the 200 families, will give them a monthly income of Rs 15. This may appear small, but it will enable them to recover the textbook costs in 80 days and their initial investment in 2.5 years, i.e. the school will clear all its dues in 2.5 years.

After all dues are cleared, the savings (which will amount to Rs 36,000 per year) can be used for providing power to the school. For our model school which contains 3 rooms, we shall need 3 ceiling fans. A company sells solar powered ceiling fans complete with a 10 watt solar module for Rs 27,500. So, an investment of Rs. 82,500 will give us fans which require negligible maintenance. With proper room design, it can be ensured that there is enough sunlight in the room to avoid the use of artificial lighting. So, our power and appliances needs are completely covered by a onetime investment of Rs. 82,500. A bit on the expensive side, but we have to consider that this system will be independent of the uncertain grid, have negligible operating costs and will be eco-friendly. The school will have enough savings to incorporate this in 2 years, as the prices of solar is decreasing. After that, the savings can be used for further development of the school, or for subsidizing education.

Salient features:

·         Total sheltered floor area of 400 sq feet for 100 students.

·         Student-teacher ratio as prescribed by the government.

·         Sustainable and low cost drinking water and sanitation facilities.

·         Emphasises eco-friendly practises.

·         Vocational education.

·         Monthly fees less than that of most schools.

·         Eco-friendly and dependable power supply with low operating costs available after 2 years.

·         Community recovers investment after 2.5 years.

Your views/ suggestions/ criticism in the comments :-)