By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday said that the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education is implementing various welfare schemes for incentives for girls education. Under the Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) under Samagra Shiksha. KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL). A total of 5726 KGBVs have been sanctioned in the country. Out of it, 5010 KGBVs are functional with the enrolment of 6.54 lakh girls.
The scheme also has a provision of opening of schools in the neighbourhood, free uniform and text-books up to Class VIII, provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools, provision of self-defence training from classes VI to XII and stipend to Divyang girls from class I to Class XII. Special state specific projects such as Life Skills, Awareness programmes, Incinerators, Sanitary Pad Vending Machines etc. for varied interventions under equity are also emphasized under the scheme for enhancing access, retention and quality for girls by promoting enrolment drives, retention and motivation camps, gender sensitization modules etc, Pradhan said.
A Central Sector Scheme ‘National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS)’is also under implementation since 2008 to award scholarships to meritorious students, including girls, of Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to arrest their drop-out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at Secondary Stage. Under the scheme, one lakh fresh scholarships of Rs.12000/- per annum per student are awarded to selected students of class IX every year and are renewed in classes X to XII for study in a State Government, Government-aided and Local body school under the scheme, he said.
Ministry of Education also runs a Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students since 2008 with the objective to provide financial assistance to meritorious students to meet a part of their day-to-day expenses while pursuing higher studies. 50% of the scholarships are earmarked for girls.
Department of School Education & Literacy (DOSE&L) has developed an online module for compiling the data of Out of School Children (OoSC) identified by each State/UT and their mapping with Special Training Centres (STC) on the PRABANDH Portal (http://samagrashiksha.in). The concerned State/UT validates the child wise information of the identified OoSC and STC uploaded by the concerned Block Resource Centre of the State for monitoring the progress of mainstreaming of OoSC. Under Samagra Shiksha, for the first time in 2021-22, financial assistance upto Rs 2000 per annum has been envisioned for supporting Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 for completing their education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification.
DOSE&L and Ministry of Women & Child Development have issued a joint D.O. letter No. 13-10/2021-IS-11 dated 16.06.2021 to facilitate education for children orphaned due to COVID-19 by bringing them under the fold of the various schemes run by Department of School Education & Literacy, and outlining the role of teachers, District Education Officers and Child Welfare Committees, he added.
