Bhubaneswar: In another big decision, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced to provide free textbooks to the private and unaided Odia medium schools across the State from next academic year. Secretary 5T V K Pandian is spearheading this development initiative.
The scheme will be implemented as part of the 5T initiative from the academic year 2024-25. The State Government will provide free textbooks to students from Class I to VIII of such schools.
This will benefit more than 5 lakh students of 3620 private and unaided schools in the State. For this, the State Government will bear an additional burden of Rs 9.43 crore annually.
It is worth noting that children studying in private Odisha medium schools have been performing well in the annual HSC Examinations and have also demonstrated their skills in various fields.
At present, the State Government has been providing free textbooks to students of all Government schools in the State and also providing free textbooks to Odia children in States like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.