Bhubaneswar: To reach out the tribal students in hinterlands, the State Government has launched School Sanjog Programme, an initiative of mobile schools in van for class I-V students.
This initiative is a joint collaboration between BGVS, Sikhyasandhan in partnership with UNICEF and State ST & SC Development Department.
The initiative Programme focuses on continued learning among children in Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) areas, as an alternative to address the disruption in education, among children of class I-V, during school closure due to Covid-19 Pandemic.
The pandemic induced compulsion of classroom learning being shifted to online learning, has denied education to many children in PVTG areas, due to lack of access to smart phones or internet connection, through the Mobile School Initiative it is expected that reaching out to children in PVTG communities would not only help maintain a continuity in learning but can also address prevention of school dropout.
‘Mobile School in a Van’ is designed to be visually appealing and are equipped with child friendly learning material such as audio-visual equipments, books for children from class I-V, Science Kits, Sports kits, and Hygiene education Kits to ensure children engage in joyful and memorable learning activities, run in the presence of trained volunteers in an open space. Each session will last for two hours.
The programme was launched to reach out to approximately 40,000 children of PVTG communities in ten districts of Odisha (Keonjhar, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Gajapati, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Kandhamala and Ganjam) and around 1000 villages.
Launching the programme, ST & SC Development Minister Jagannath Saraka said “Education as a powerful tool,, has always been a challenge for children in PVTG communities, the situation has worsened due to closure of schools on account of the pandemic. Thus, this programme will make a significant move towards reaching out to the children in PVTG areas, who are missing out on learning”.
On this occasion, Principal Secretary Ranjana Chopra said this programme is an attempt to ensure continued learning will be a significant move in helping children return to schools after they reopen. This innovative approach is timely and much needed in this hour of education emergency, she said.
