JOIN USMuguli residential school gets Rs 46.95 lakh under SSA
The government has earmarked Rs 46.95 lakh for residential schools for specific categories of children under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), in the annual budget of Rs 31.75 crore for Dakshina Kannada this year.
The grant has stimulated the hopes of completing the work on the Government Higher Primary School (residential), Muguli, Belthangady taluk, which is one of the five such schools all over the State.
The Muguli residential school for students who are physically challenged, from economically and socially backward conditions as well as facing geographic limitations, was established in 2012, and is being run under temporary arrangements.
“The construction of a new building worth Rs 1.5 crore is still under progress. The residential school – with free teaching and food facilities for the students from Class VI to VIII – will get additional facilities with construction of the new building. The government spends about Rs 18 lakh on 100 students a year,” explained an official, who spoke to Deccan Herald.
The Residential School head teacher Prashanth said that after Bengaluru South, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Dharwad, Dakshina Kannada is the only district to get such a school for the overall development of students. “In just three years, the school has attained a strength of 100 students. The school also publishes notification in newspapers and banners. In addition, street plays are being conducted to create awareness among the public about the facility,” he added.
“Students from various districts study in the school. Children who get recommendations from non-governmental organisations are also admitted into the school. If more seats are vacant, an admission process will be conducted and priority will be given to poor, orphan, endosulfan-affected children or those from Naxal-prone areas,” the head teacher explained.
“There are four government-appointed teachers in the school and seven more are appointed by an agency – in addition to the clerical staff members and a security guard,” he added.
More in budget
The government will release Rs 4.43 lakh to provide special training for mainstreaming out-of-school children. The 26 children of the 12-month transit home for the urban-deprived children at the Kapikad school will get the benefit this year. Also, Rs 58.18 lakh has been sanctioned for the major repair work of 46 classrooms of 14 schools and one additional classroom for a residential school.
A series of activities are being conducted for community mobilisation on various topics through District Information System for Education (DISE). The one-month programme is being broadcasted in a local channel and documentation is being done. The teachers will be trained through the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) programme and Rs 49.97 lakh has been earmarked for the purpose.
Under the computer-aided education programme through the Computer-aided Learning Centres (CALC), Rs 20 lakh has been sanctioned to each district. Up to 10 schools in a district will get five computers each. The government has, however, directed authorities to complete the pending programmes of last year on priority.
Other than this, a major share of the budget goes for free test books (Rs 90 lakh), new teachers’ salary (Rs 14.88 crore), academic support through BRC (Rs 2.33 crore) and academic support through CRC (Rs 3.96 crore).