ABHINAV BINDRA TO SET UP 50 SCHOOLS IN 5 YEARS

Beijing Olympics Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra is planning to set up 50 schools across India within next five years. These schools would be managed by Abhinav Bindra Ace Public School Trust (ABAPST). Sports would form an integral part of the schools’ extra curricular activities. However, the main aim of these schools would be to strike a unique balance between sports and studies. The first school of the project is expected to start by 2010 at Bangaluru. The ABAPS trust is planning to run the first 3-4 schools by itself whereas the rest of them would be franchised. The Karnataka government has already allotted 50-80 acres of land for the project. The Trust is in the process of acquiring land in some other states such as Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh. Each school would have a capacity of around 800 residential students and impart education from 6th to 12th standard. The Trust is enlisting the support of various international bodies, agencies and NGOs to finance the schools.