Government to improve literacy levels in schools

BHUBANESWAR: The Government has decided to set up 1,480 new high schools in a bid to universalise secondary education in the State. A high school each will be opened within 5-km radius of a village for which work on 300 schools had already started. Construction of 709 high schools will be taken up in the first phase. This was decided at the first governing council meeting of Rashtriya Madhyamika Siksha Abhijan (RMSA) presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Monday. A budget of  Rs. 1,128.49 crore was approved by the council for implementation of the programme in 2011-12. Besides, Rs. 75- crore will also be made available during the year for providing bicycles to the students. Naveen directed the officials to take steps for upgradation of infrastructure in 1,909 existing schools which need urgent attention besides all the upgraded high schools. The ashram schools which mostly cater to the needs of the tribal students should be given priority in the implementation of RMSA, Naveen directed. Progress in the construction of model schools was reviewed by the Chief Minister. The State Government has decided to set up 344 model schools, 314 in block headquarters and 30 in district headquarters. All schools should have overhead tanks, running water facility and toilets, he said. Official sources said appointment of teachers at the primary and secondary levels had started to improve the teacher-student ratio as per the guidelines. So far, 20,000 and 3,467 teachers have been appointed at the primary and secondary levels respectively. Subject-related training is also being imparted to teachers to improve the quality of teaching, with 40,000 teachers already trained at the secondary level, the Chief Minister said. The Government has started sanctioning annual grant of  Rs.50,000 and minor repair grant of Rs. 20,000 to the schools. Besides, a management and  development committee has been constituted in the schools.  Naveen has also asked the School and Mass Education Department to take steps for setting up a separate directorate for implementation of RMSA. School and Mass Education Minister Pratap Jena, Chief Secretary Bijay Patnaik, Development Commissioner RN Senapati, Secretary in the Department Aparajita Sarangi and other members of the council attended the meeting.