Special education drive launched in Odisha district

Berhampur (Odisha), July 20 (PTI) A special education drive has been launched in Odisha's tribal-dominated Kandhamal district to ensure 100 percent enrolment in schools. The campaign, Shiksha Ka Haq Aabhiyan, will encompass all primary schools in the district and is being taken up by members of Gaon Shiksha Parishad (GSP), a committee headed by the school management head, official sources said. There are 1,937 primary schools (except schools for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe welfare department), they said. The committee members, comprising panchayat members, educated youths and volunteers, are motivating parents to enroll their children in schools and asking them to ensure the regular attendance of their children in schools, Kandhamal district collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said. The special temporary drive, launched on Monday, concided with another move to appoint "Shiksha Sathis" in schools in interior areas of Kandhamal district in a bid to enhance the retention rate of tribal students in primary classes, sources said. Youths educated up to middle school (Class VIII) and fluent in tribal Kue and Odia language would be appointed as Shiksha Sathis by the school management committee for a period of 10 months in a year with a montly honorarium of Rs 1,000. The expenses for the initiative will be borne from the funds of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), said a senior government officer. The district administration has shortlisted 186 schools initially, mostly in Baliguda and Phulbani blocks, where the siksha sathis will be appointed, said sources. Besides teaching the children of Class I and II, the shiksha sathis will act as interpreter between students and teachers of the schools, Patil said. The shiksha sathi will track the students and mobilise them and their parents. They will motivate students to attend school. PTI COR SKN

Government to Set up Nursing schools

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to establish general nursing and midwifery (GNM) schools in Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Sundargarh and Dhenkanal districts. The Centre has approved the proposal of the Government for opening GNM schools in the peripheral districts to churn out more number of nurses to meet the acute shortage of trained manpower in the hospitals. The schools would be set up at a cost of ` 10 crore each with the Centre providing 85 per cent of the amount and the State Government bearing the rest 15 per cent. The State Budget for 2012-13 has earmarked ` 6.22 crore for the purpose and work on the institutes would start at the earliest, Health Minister Prasanna Acharya said.
�Odisha will also be home to one of the eight regional institutes of paramedic sciences announced by the Centre. The Government has allotted five acre of land on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The Institute would come up at a cost of ` 75 crore with the Centre providing 75 per cent and the State 25 per cent. The institute would augment availability of skilled paramedics for the health delivery system.
�Meanwhile, work on the earlier approved GNM school project along with two ANM schools has started. The GNM school is coming up at Nabarangpur, while the ANM schools are being set up in Sonepur and Boudh districts.
�The Government has already created posts of the principal, 14 tutors and other allied staff and personnel for the GNM institution. For the ANM Schools, posts of principal tutors, five tutors and other staff have been created for both the districts.
�The Centre has already sanctioned ` 17 crore for the three projects and released ` 4.75 crore till date. The State Government has also provided ` 1 crore of its share of ` 3.33 crore.