TRS govt efforts provide a fillip to girls education
The relentless efforts by Telangana to put girl students in the centerstage have become a gamechanger in the field of education in the state. The government’s efforts have provided an opportunity for tens of thousands of girls aspiring to get higher education in the country.
Hyderabad: The relentless efforts by Telangana to put girl students in the centerstage have become a gamechanger in the field of education in the state. The government’s efforts have provided an opportunity for tens of thousands of girls aspiring to get higher education in the country.
Since the formation of Telangana, the newly formed TRS government has been facing problems on multiple fronts in streamlining the education system from the primary to university level. One among the key issues faced by the government is the higher dropout rate of girls after completing their secondary education.
Making things more complicated for their lives the girls as young as middle school level, have been getting married off by parents. In turn, this situation has given rise to another disturbing trend, in which girls as young as 18 years of age become mothers. This results in the number of maternal and infant mortality rates.
It was to break this vicious circle which has been going for decades, the government has championed the cause of extending residential education to girls till class 12. This was to checkmate the school drop-out rate of girls as well as to prevent child marriages.
It was against this backdrop the Centre appointed the Cabinet Advisory Board on Education of Girls headed by Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari and made a pitch for the cause at national level successfully garnering the support from other states. This had made the Centre to extend the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBVs) till class 12.
Adding to this, scores of girls studying in government-run schools were found with anaemic symptoms making them unable to cope up with education. Following this, the state government has revamped its mid-day meal menu to provide nutritious food so that the adolescent age girls studying in the government schools could come over the problem.
That part, the government has also introduced a new scheme providing ‘Health and Hygiene Kits’ (HHK) to about 8 lakh girl students in the state, covering Zilla Parishad, KGBV, Model and Gurukul schools with an annual estimated cost of Rs 85 crore.
Kadiyam Srihari said the students stay for 10 months in these residential schools. However, the HHKs are provided to cover entire 12 months. The main objective is to ensure the health of the girl children studying in these schools.
In addition to this, the state is starting exclusive residential schools and colleges for girl students and asked the Centre to open up more Gurukul and model schools for girl students belonging to SC and ST groups and to increase intake from current 100 to 200.
