School and Mass Education Minister Debi Prasad Mishra on Tuesday distributed Quality Awards to 44 elementary schools of 19 districts of the State. last year, the Government had introduced the Quality Award scheme with an aim to improve the learning experience of students. Under the scheme selected elementary schools were provided with financial incentives in three categories, A, B and C to boost their overall performance.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister laid emphasis on quality education directed all concerned to ensure implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in letter and spirit. “The major objective of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is to provide quality and inclusive elementary education to all children in a time bound manner which has also been made legally enforceable under the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RCFCE ACT). Hence, we all see that students are getting quality education,” said Mishra.
Department Commissioner-cum-Secretary Usha Padhee said the scheme, Quality Awards, aims at encouraging the schools to improve their functioning and create a conducive environment for learning. The department had received 68 proposals for the awards. After State level scrutiny 44 proposals or schools were selected.
While three schools got the award in “A” category with a cash award of Rs 3 lakh each, 16 schools were selected in B category and bagged an incentive of Rs 2 lakh each. As many as 25 elementary schools received award in C category and got an incentive of Rs 1 lakh each. OPEPA Director Mahendra Mallick, TE and SCERT Director Dr AB Ota spoke on the occasion.