Chhatrapur: Work on 50 smart high schools under the school transformation programme of the state government’s 5T initiative is ready in Ganjam district.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate those high schools in Hinjilicut and Sheragad blocks in the first phase Saturday. Inauguration programme of the smart schools will continue till August 30 every alternate day.
This was informed by the district information and public relations office Friday here. As many as 108 MLAs will take part in the inauguration programmes in different days.
Notably, 5T Secretary VK Pandian has been routinely monitoring the high school transformation programme in the district over last few months.
Reports said, the transformation programme of 133 government-run high schools, including 22 Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas, in the district has been undertaken.
It was learnt that the work of other schools identified in 22 blocks of the district is in progress. The administration aims at completing them as soon as possible.
District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has been regularly reviewing the progress of the project every week to ensure its timely completion.
The government has set a target to start functioning of these schools from October 2. It was said that now 133 schools have been included in the programme, but the district administration has set its eyes on 274.
Under the programme, the district administration is improving the quality of infrastructure. World-class interactive and smart classrooms, e-library-cum reading rooms and modern science laboratories are being set up in each of the selected schools.
Students of Classes IX and X will be given priority as far as e-learning is concerned.
Apart from safe and pure drinking water and clean toilets in schools, the project also envisages better playgrounds for children complete with sports facilities.
The walls of these schools will be painted with educative and interesting themes. The objective is to instil a sense of pride and aspiration among students. Students will be motivated to attend classes regularly.
The project was undertaken with the involvement of the local communities, including gram panchayats, school management development bodies and alumni associations.
The community involvement is expected to ensure the sustainability of the improved infrastructure in these schools. Experts hope that the school transformation will definitely ensure quality education for rural children.
It was learnt that around Rs 50 lakh to Rs 60 lakh is being utilised for each of these schools for the infrastructure overhaul with the major contribution from the ‘Mo School’ funds.
The remaining amounts will be utilised from the gram panchayat development (GPD) funds, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, and other sources.
PNN
