Model Schools in all 314 Blocks in Odisha

The Odisha government is making constructive efforts towards augmenting the education quality at the school level. In its bid to upgrade standard of Odisha students, the state government today decided to open model schools in all the 314 blocks on the pattern of central schools, official sources said.

Under the centrally sponsored model school scheme, these schools will be set up under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode in all 314 blocks of the state on the pattern of central schools that aims at up-gradation of standard of Odisha students.

Besides English and Odia, the students would be imparted education in Hindi and Sanskrit languages, the minister said adding that the model schools will be run through a special society similar to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) that runs central schools, he added.

This was decided at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. "The state government will spend Rs 190 crore this fiscal for the purpose of construction of 162 model schools," school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters today.

Stating that 50 per cent of seats in such model schools will be reserved for the girl students, Mishra said arrangements were being made to construct ladies hostels close to the schools.

Apart from this, each school in Odisha will have green fencing and kitchen garden at their school premises, the Minister said. He suggested that the School Health programme should be integrated with Red Cross for conduct of blood grouping tests at school level.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary of School and Mass Education Department Smt Usha Padhee proposed that JRC counsellors of each school should ensure proper hand wash before mid-day meal. Besides, she also stressed on creattion of Eco-Club in the schools.

Chief Minister Patnaik has also directed the school and mass education department to create a separate cadre for the faculty members. Besides usual courses, the model schools would have provision for vocational training.

The model schools would have classes from standard VI to XII, the minister said. Hopefully, these model schools will set a trend among other government schools already in a pathetic conditions to model themselves in the line of these model schools.