Municipal schools to adopt house system

Mumbai: In a bid to bring Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools on par with private schools, the civic education committee will adopt a key private-school practice of having a house system in these schools. In such a system, the students are distributed among four houses that then participate in various intra-school activities.  It is expected to inculcate a healthy competition and a sense of belonging in the students. 

To implement the same, the civic body has started the tendering process as well. In fact, the first stage of the process was completed on Monday. According to the officials, once the remaining two stages are completed, they will introduce the house system from the next academic year in all the civic schools. 

Former Mumbai collector Idzes Kundan who is currently the additional municipal commissioner in the BMC, came up with the idea of starting the house system in the civic-run schools. The idea is to make the students physically and mentally fit along with making them understand the value of healthy competition.

BMC education officer, Mahesh Palkar feels that such projects won’t just bridge the gap between the civic schools and private schools but will also encourage the students into participating in different activities. “We are preparing them for a bright future and by implementing this project, everyone will be able to see the capability of our students,” Palkar stated. 

In this project, the civic schools will have colour codes like red, blue, green and yellow and the students will get uniforms corresponding to their house colour during the beginning of the academic year along with their regular uniforms and 28 items given to them by the BMC every year. 

“This is something the BMC is doing for the first time so it is likely to take some time to implement properly. People have this misconception that a house system is associated with sports activities only but actually, it includes everything inside a classroom as well. Right from drawing to cultural activities, the system helps in adding a ‘competitive factor’, encouraging students to be more participative,” said Rameshwar Lohe, head of physical education department, BMC, and the in-charge of the house system project.