2 education bodies merge to give shape to Opesa

BHUBANESWAR: The school and mass education department has decided to merge Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority (Opepa) with Odisha Madhyamik Siksha Mission (OMSM) to form a new entity Odisha School Education Programme Authority (Opesa) for better convergence of programmes and schemes.
The department has passed a resolution in this regard and restructure the cadre for the new entity. The Opesa will have a state project director in the rank of an IAS officer, three additional directors, one OAS and two OES officers, 13 joint directors, 12 OES and one OFS officer and six assistant directors in the rank of OES officers.

"The merger has been done for proper implementation of different school education-related programmes and schemes and also for better management of elementary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the state. The order has been issued to publish the resolution in the Odisha Gazette," a school and mass education official said.

The Opepa is the state-level agency for implementing Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. The objective of these schemes is to impart quality learning for eight years to all children in the age group of 6 to 14.