180 new schools for Malda

Statesman News Service

MALDA, June 9: In order to reduce the dropout rate, the state education department has planned to set up 180 new secondary schools in the Malda district. The state government has already sanctioned the plans for 180 new secondary schools to be completed in the 2008-09 financial year.The school education minister and principal secretary of the education department will hold a meeting with the Malda district administration tomorrow through video conferencing, education officials said today. The government will sanction funds for these new schools fromSarba Shiksha Mission (SSM). The government has formed a district level visiting team (DVT) comprising of the district magistrate, sabhadhipati and district inspector of schools.The team will finalise the location where the new secondary schools will be built up. The district administration will consider the areas needed and find out the location for the new set up, keeping a distance from the present location of the existing secondary schools in each block. The government may acquire land in suitable locations with the help and suggestion from representatives of the local people.Sources said political leaders may unite to gift a plot of land to the government for setting up new schools to reduce students’ load from nearby secondary or higher secondary schools.The state government has planned to set up more secondary schools here considering poor literacy rate, education index rate of this district. Malda, identified as a backward district, has 2054 primary schools, 60 junior high schools, 182 secondary schools and 77 higher secondary and multipurpose schools. There are eight colleges in this district. Officials from the education department visited Harishchandrapur to establish a new college there.