STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Central government has asked the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), Assam to speed up enrollment in the free educational and skill-development programmes in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme. The sorry state of the KGBV institutions in the State came to light during a meeting of its Project Approval Board (PAB) held in New Delhi during June this year.
As per official records, thousands of seats are lying vacant in the 78 hostels and 67 residential schools that are presently functioning across the State.
In Assam, two types of educational institutions are presently running under the KGBV scheme: Type-II and Type-IV. The ‘Type-II’ KGBV schools are residential where the girls can study from Class-VI to Class-X. On the other hand, under the ‘Type-IV’ mode, hostels are provided for girl students studying from Classes IX to XII at other educational institutions.
The PAB meet found that 19.75% i.e., 1,353 seats are lying vacant in Type-II; while 60% i.e., 1,074 seats are lying vacant in Type-IV. The meet has asked the State government “to fill up all the vacant seats so that the capacity can be fully utilized.”
The KGBV scheme provides elementary-level quality and life-skill educational facility (like music, dance, martial arts, and vocational training) to girl students belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. Under this scheme, residential school and hostel facilities for girls are established in the ‘Educationally Backward Blocks’ (EBBs), towns and minority concentrated areas, all over the country.
In Assam, 15 EBBs spread across eight districts (Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Karbi Anglong, Nalbari, NC Hills, Sibsagar and Tinsukia) and 11 blocks in seven districts (Darrang, Karbi Anglong, Dhubri, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Kamrup and Lakhimpur) have been identified as eligible for implementing the scheme. This is as per the revised guidelines of Ministry of Minority affairs and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).
When asked, a top-level source of SSA Assam told The Sentinel that there are reasons for the seats lying vacant in the schools and hostels under the two-level schemes of KGBV in the State. “We got the permission to set up the Type-II (Classes VI-X) only in 2017-18. The maximum numbers of vacant seats in these residential schools are in Classes IX and X. The reason is the mid-term session, and our students have not yet reached Class-IX. Besides, students from other schools have also not approached us.”
With reference to the vacancies in the Type-IV hostels, the source said, “We have got the sanction for 78 hostels but only 23 of them are operational.”
Notably, permission for the construction of 14 buildings of Type-I KGBV residential schools (for girls studying from Class-VI to Class-VII) have been granted, but the construction work is yet to commence, the source informed.