Bhubaneswar: In a bid to ensure safety and security of SC & ST students in schools, the state government Monday asked all districts collectors to conduct regular parent-teachers meetings in all schools run by the ST, SC Development, Minorities and Backward Class Welfare department.
SC & ST development secretary Surendra Kumar has also issued guidelines in this regard. According to the guidelines, the department-run schools will conduct one-day structured meeting once in every two months, preferably last Saturday of the month. If needed, the meeting can be hold two conjunctive days.
The meeting would be held in presence of teachers, students, parents, school management committee representatives and local MLA. The guidelines issued in the wake of serious lapses in management of several residential schools under the SC and ST development department.
Stating that safety and security of students should be focus of the meeting, the guideline said that the issues like scholarship schemes, skill development programmes and others should be discussed.
The meeting will address ranges of issues such as safety and security of the students, scholarship schemes, skill development programmes etc.
Kumar appealed the collectors to guide and closely monitor regular implementation of the parent teacher meetings in the schools. The government has also said to conduct security audit of the school and hostel buildings in regular interval.
The department’s minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi also said Monday that the state government has decided to construct 95 hostels at an expenditure of Rs 88 crore in tribal dominated Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput districts.
Majhi said while 60 hostels will house scheduled tribe students, the remaining 35 hostels will be meant for Dalit students. The construction of these hostels will start very soon, Majhi said.
Currently, the department is running 1670 residential educational institutes across the state, wherein more than 5.4 lakh SC & ST students receive education with the facility of free boarding.
Meanwhile, the government has also issued a notification upgrading a Sevashram in Bargarh district into a high school. The Gourenmunda Sevashram in Gaisilate block of Bargarh district will be upgraded to high a school, which will be made operational after the requisite infrastructure is developed, sources said.
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