215 new schools to come up in Odisha soon: Minister

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 12:

The Odisha Government will soon open 215 new schools in the state, School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra announced in state assembly today.

He was answering a question by Opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati during the question hour in the Assembly.

The Congress member wanted to know the number of gram Panchayats without high schools in the state and the steps the government was taking to open schools in such places.

In his reply, the School and Mass Education minister said; “The government is taking all necessary steps to open new schools. The Project Approval Board has approved 156 new schools where requisite numbers of students are available within five kilometres radius as per criteria. A high school in a panchayat is a must.”

“We are also plannign to open 59 schools that don’t fall under the existing criteria, taking the total number of new schools to 215.  We are also giving special attention to difficult terrain, tribal pockets, hilly terrain and inaccessible pockets and will present them in the meeting to be held on March 26,” he added.

The Jeypore MLA alleged that the education system in the state had collapsed and raised questions regarding uniform pay scale for employees of the same rank such as teaching assistance and contractual teachers.

“The Minister would admit that the education system of this state has collapsed. There are no doubts about it,” said Bahinitpati.