Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Tuesday issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for implementing its free education programme from Kindergarten (KG) to Postgraduate (PG) level, specifying fee guidelines, eligibility criteria and responsibilities of educational institutions.
According to the SOP, the scheme will cover regular academic courses offered by government higher educational institutions. However, professional courses will not be included under the free education initiative. The government has also made 75% attendance mandatory for students to avail the benefits of the scheme, sources said.
Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj said the initiative aims to ensure that financial constraints do not prevent students from pursuing higher education and to make quality education accessible to all.
The SOP outlines the roles of institutions in implementing the programme and provides guidelines related to fee exemptions and other administrative procedures.
