Berhampur: Odisha government has decided to waive the examination fees for Class IX and X in the cyclone and flood affected areas in the state.
The annual examination fee of a Class X student is around Rs 235, while the exam fee of a Class IX student is about Rs 30.
The number of students to be benefitted under the scheme would be known only after a review meeting of the district education officers (DEO) to be held on Tuesday at Bhubaneswar, Director of Odisha Madhyamika Sikshya Mission (OMSM) Nirmal Mishra said here.
Mishra and Director, secondary education Benudhara Das and president Board of Secondary Education (BSE) D P Nanda visited some of the schools in Ganjam which were devastated by cyclone Phailin on October 12 and conducted review of restoration works in post-cyclone period here.
We have taken the block as a unit to provide the benefits. The number of schools to be benefitted also will be known only after thorough review, he stated. The students of the government, government aided and block grant high schools to be benefitted under the scheme.
In addition, the government has also decided to provide text books and a pair of uniform to the students who have lost these in the cyclone and floods. ?We have already provided around 5000 text books of Class IX and X in Ganjam, the most affected district in natural calamities, he added.
He said the government has decided to repair the damaged class rooms on priority basis and entrusted the task to the rural development and public works departments. The government has also requested the Central government to sanction Rs 12 lakh to construct at least two class rooms in the schools which are beyond their repairs.
According to the interim report of the district administration, all the classrooms in 81 schools have been damaged. These include primary schools (44) upper primary schools (27) and hifh schools (10). Similarly 2177 classrooms of 1274 schools were also damaged in the natural calamities in Ganjam district.