Pune: Two programmes of the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) - Model School and Model Public Health Centre (PHC) - are emerging as a transformative step in government education and healthcare. Covering 303 ZP schools across the district, the model school initiative is steadily setting benchmarks for inclusive, future-ready learning. While the model PHC initiative, with 108 centres under its wing, is integrating modern infrastructure with cutting-edge digital health solutions.
Classrooms under this programme are undergoing a makeover, while school days have become more interesting with themes like ‘Bagless Saturdays’ when students engage in storytelling and playing ‘Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)’ games. The daily ‘reading hour’ cultivates consistent reading habits, and subject-specific teaching learning material corners such as ‘Ganit Peti’ for hands-on mathematics and ‘Bhasha Peti’ for languages are making learning more interactive.
To ensure foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) goals are met, the ZP has introduced the NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Pune Dashboard. Monthly assessments and competency-level monitoring help identify gaps early, allowing schools to make timely interventions. This has raised overall student performance and aligned schools closer to achieving national NIPUN targets.
The Skill on Wheels initiative has already reached 30 schools within two months, offering students and teachers practical vocational exposure. Going forward, five Kaushal Bodh Kendras are being established in different blocks, serving as skill-training hubs for all 303 Pune Model Schools.
{{/usCountry}}The Skill on Wheels initiative has already reached 30 schools within two months, offering students and teachers practical vocational exposure. Going forward, five Kaushal Bodh Kendras are being established in different blocks, serving as skill-training hubs for all 303 Pune Model Schools.
{{/usCountry}}In collaboration with the Aditya Birla Education Trust’s UJAAS project, a menstrual health awareness drive was conducted across 13 schools in Baramati, reaching 331 adolescent girls with essential knowledge and confidence-building support.
Science and technology have also received a strong push with the NASA-ISRO AstroQuest programme seeing an encouraging response.
The ZP has also collaborated with Savitribai Phule Pune University’s Department of Foreign Languages to train 100 teachers in German and French. These teachers will integrate basic foreign language instruction into schools, helping students develop cross-cultural communication skills and prepare for global opportunities.
In collaboration with Mumbai-based NGO, Arpan, over 3,100 teachers were trained under the Personal Safety Education (PSE) programme across Khed, Shirur, and Haveli blocks. The training covered child rights, consequences of child sexual abuse, the POCSO Act, and response mechanisms, empowering educators to deliver age-appropriate safety education to children between six and 16 years.
In a parallel initiative, ZP has launched the country’s largest rural healthcare upgrade with 108 Model PHCs. Backed by deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and executed under CEO Gajanan Patil, the project integrates modern infrastructure with cutting-edge digital health solutions.
Each PHC will have modular operation theatres, neonatal care, e-OPD services, AI-powered diagnostics, smart health cards, telemedicine facilities, and eco-friendly infrastructure with solar power and rainwater harvesting.
To ensure accountability, ZP has also launched the PHC Excellence Awards 2025-26, a year-long evaluation programme based on a 200-point framework. Best performing PHCs will be awarded on Republic Day 2026 across categories like Maternal and Child Health, Disease Control, and Innovation.
Ajit Pawar hailed the twin initiatives as “a testament to visionary governance that ensures education and healthcare of global standards reach every corner of rural Pune.”
Gajanan Patil, CEO of Pune Zilla Parishad, added, “We are not merely building clinics; we are empowering communities and nurturing healthier futures. This Model PHC initiative and the Excellence Awards reflect Pune’s unwavering commitment to equity, quality, and scalable impact in rural healthcare.”