The Odisha authorities has determined to assemble the extension buildings of the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) with an funding of round Rs 15-crore in Ganjam district so as to accommodate extra woman college students within the hostels, official sources stated. Presently 17 KGBVs are functioning in several blocks of the district and every hostel is accommodating 100 woman college students of Class 6 to eight.
The federal government has sanctioned the development of the extension buildings of every hostel to accommodate 100 extra woman college students of Class 9 and 10, stated district undertaking coordinator, Samagra Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) Binita Senapati. The price of every extension constructing was round Rs one crore, she stated. “We have already floated a tender for construction of extension buildings of 15 out of 17 KGBVs in the district”, she stated.
The KGBV scheme was launched by the Central government with an aim to boost education among the girls, where they are being provided free residential education. The scheme was to benefit the school girls who are deprived of education and those who are in financial distress in rural areas and to arrest the school dropout among the girls. However, with facilities being offered only till class VIII in KGBVs, it was observed many girl students of poor families were dropping out for lack of adequate facilities after class 8.
As a result, it has been decided to introduce the same residential facilities in the hostels of KGBVs to even girls enrolled in class 9 and 10 in the nearby schools from next year, sources said. In some other states, including Uttar Pradesh, the hostel facilities in the KGBVs were extended to the girl students from Class 8 to 12, sources added.
