Chief Minister’s “My School, Beautiful School” Campaign for Holistic Development

The “Chief Minister’s My School, Beautiful School” campaign was implemented from January 1, 2024, to February 15, 2024, in schools across all managements and mediums under the Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Adarsh School Scheme. The campaign received an enthusiastic response from students, teachers, alumni, parents, and education supporters. Around 2 crore students from nearly 95% of schools participated, leading to the campaign’s success. Some activities even made it into the Guinness Book of Records.

Successful schools at the taluka, district, division, and state levels received cash prizes, with permission to allocate funds based on their needs. This financial support helped schools address urgent requirements. More importantly, the campaign fostered a new sense of consciousness among students and teachers, leading to numerous positive changes. The campaign aimed to enhance students’ personality development through various competitive activities and provide real-world exposure, which it successfully achieved. As a result, the state government decided to continue this initiative with the “Chief Minister My School, Beautiful School Stage” campaign.

The campaign expects participation from all schools in the state, divided into two categories: government and local body schools, and all other management schools. Competitions will be held separately for each category, with winners selected at each level. The campaign will be implemented across Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Class A and B Municipal Corporations, and the rest of Maharashtra.

The main objectives of the campaign are to improve educational quality, promote students’ personality development by raising awareness about health, hygiene, environment, and sports, and strengthen school administration in line with government policies. The campaign will focus on infrastructure, implementation of government policies, and educational achievement, with schools evaluated by committees through physical visits and questionnaires.

The pre-preparation period for the campaign ends on August 4, 2024. The campaign will run from August 5 to September 4, 2024, with evaluations conducted from September 5 to September 15. Schools are encouraged to register and participate. Prize amounts vary by jurisdiction, with significant awards for the top-performing schools at taluka, district, divisional, and state levels.

The top-ranked schools from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation area, Class A and B Municipal Corporation areas, and each division in the rest of Maharashtra will compete at the state level. Prizes of Rs. 51 lakh, Rs. 31 lakh, and Rs. 21 lakh will be awarded to the first, second, and third place Government and Local Self-Government Schools, respectively. Similar awards will be given to schools of other managements. The School Management Committee will decide how to allocate the prize money, prioritizing the schools’ needs.

In the first phase of the “Chief Minister’s School, Beautiful School” campaign, 6,123 schools participated. A total of 91 schools received awards, including 1 at the state level, 2 at the divisional level, 4 at the municipal level, 6 at the district level, and 78 at the taluka level. Shardabai Pawar Vidyaniketan School in Shardanagar, Baramati, won the second prize of Rs. 15 lakh.

In the jurisdiction of Class ‘A’ and ‘B’ municipal corporations, Dr. Yashwant Ganpat Shinde Vidyaniketan School No. 19 in Dhankawadi won the first prize of Rs. 21 lakh. Krida Prabodhani Vidyalaya in Udhyam Nagar, Pimpri Colony, Pimpri-Chinchwad, won the second prize of Rs. 15 lakh. Among other institutions, Jan Prabodhani Navnagar Vidyalaya in Nigdi won the first prize of Rs. 21 lakh, and an English School from Raman Bagh, Pune, bagged the third prize of Rs. 11 lakh.

At the district level, the Zilla Parishad Primary School in Velhe taluka, Pabe, won the first prize. The school Sabnis Vidyamandir Narayangaon received the third prize of Rs. 11 lakh.

Principals of all schools in Pune district participated in the second phase of the “Mukhyamantri Majhi Shukla Sundar Shukla” campaign, running until August 4. Schools had the chance to win significant prizes at the taluka, district, division, and state levels. Schools must fill in their information on the provided website to participate.

Suraj Mandhare, Commissioner of Education, Maharashtra State, noted that while different activities are ongoing in various schools, this program unites them and creates a new spirit in the education departments. Schools have actively participated and implemented various activities to achieve the campaign’s objectives. This initiative has now become a regular part of the annual work of the Education Department.