500 ‘PM Shri Schools’ to come up in Odisha, says Union Education Minister

BHUBANESWAR: Of the 15,000 model schools under the PM Shri Schools scheme that will soon be opened in the country, 500 would come up in Odisha, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.He announced this after laying the foundation stone of a Kendriya Vidyalaya on the premises of IIT-Bhubaneswar near Jatni. 

“The Centre is in the process of establishing model schools that will be called ‘PM Shri Schools’ in all the blocks of the country. These schools will be the laboratory for implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020”, he added.

He said any State government school, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ekalavya Vidyalaya or Navodaya Vidyalaya can be converted into model schools. The students of these schools will be extended special education by the government.

Pradhan said the new Kendriya Vidyalaya will come up in an area of 10 acre with an estimated budget of Rs 25 crore and annual recurring expenditure of about Rs 4 crore to be provided by IIT-Bhubaneswar. The students will be enrolled from Classes I to V for the 2022-23 academic session. Classes for the school will continue to run from the IIT building till its own building comes up.

Pradhan also announced that five new Central Schools will be opened on project mode in Odisha with support from Coal India. The government intends to ensure quality education under the scheme through Kendriya Vidyalayas, Ekalavya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, Jatni MLA Suresh Routray and staff of the Central School were present. One of the major mandates of the NEP is to offer a four-year integrated teacher education programme which  will be offered in pilot mode initially in multidisciplinary institutions across the country, Pradhan said.