The State Government on Saturday decided to pay transport allowance to the students if their school is more than one kilometre from their residence.
The Government’s decision came after it decided to shut down all schools having less than 10 students and accommodate these students in the nearby schools.
School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the Government has already identified 966 schools across the State having less than 10 students.
As per the decision, a student would get Rs 600 per month for 10 months (Rs 6,000 annually) if his or her attendance is more than 75 per cent.
Rs 4,000 would be provided to students having attendance between 50 per cent to 75 per cent and Rs 3,000 for attendance between 30 to 50 per cent. No transportation allowance would be provided if the attendance of a student is less than 30 per cent, said Dash.
The transportation allowance would be directly credited to the bank accounts of the guardians of the students, added the Minister.
Senior officials said the transport allowance would help bring the children to schools and also help overcome the shortage of teachers in several schools.