EXCLUSIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR
GIRLS FROM 25TH
OF THIS MONTH
A new programme, the National Programme
for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL), is to be
implemented in 21 States from the 25th of this month.
In the Tenth Plan, over Rs. 1064 crore will be spent on the programme.
The NPEGEL would be implemented under
the umbrella of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, but will have a distinct
identity. It will have full synergy with other children’s and
school programmes such as the mid-day meal scheme and the school
health programmes of the health department.
The States in which the programme
will be implemented are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu
and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttranchal and West Bengal.
The implementation of the NPEGEL
programme will be at block level. Blocks have been selected based
on poor female literacy rates as per 1991 census. (Once the data
for 2001 census become available, selection of blocks will be
modified according to the revised data.) In all, about 2200 blocks
will benefit from this programme.
The blocks in which this programme
is to be implemented are the educationally backward blocks (EEBs)
where the level of rural female literacy is less than the national
average and the gender gap is above the national average, and
blocks in districts which are not EBBs but have at least 5 per
cent SC/ST population and where SC/ST female literacy is below
10 per cent. In addition, urban slums with poor female literacy
will also be covered under this programme.
In the selected blocks, villages
have been organised into clusters of 10 villages each,
and a girl-child-friendly school has been identified to cater
to each cluster. The school will be provided with additional facilities
/ infrastructure that includes teaching-learning equipment, books,
games and vocational training. Training will be given for development
of life skills among girl students. Additional rooms, toilets
and provisions for water supply will be added to the selected
schools.
The girls get an incentive upto Rs.
150 per year to support them with textbooks, uniform, stationery,
escort services and such other specific needs.
The programme lays great emphasis
on community involvement in mobilisation, retention as well as
monitoring. It is seeking support of women’s sanghas, mothers’
committees, and parent-teacher associations. The efforts at village
level would be co-ordinated by a core group drawing from
these existing groups and outside. Each ‘cluster’ can spend upto
Rs. 95,000 over a five year period [approximately Rs. 35,000 in
the first year, Rs. 20,000 in the second and third year each,
and Rs. 10,000 in the fifth year] on community-linked activities.
Other main interventions include
awards to schools and teachers, bridge courses and alternative
schooling. Additional early childhood-care-centres are being opened
in the identified blocks to meet gaps in the ICDS scheme and thus
to relieve girls from the burden of sibling care.
The programme will also be supported
by the National Open School, by way of waiving fees for girls,
designing special courses and devising proper delivery systems.
