A special school for minorities

The Delhi government plans to establish a residential school - the very first of its kind - for students from the SC/ST, OBC and minority communities, Neelam Pandey reports.

The Delhi government plans to establish a residential school -- the very first of its kind -- for students from the SC/ST, OBC and minority communities.

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Sources, the proposal was floated last year too but got shelved. The proposal is likely to be put up for clearance before the Delhi cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday evening.

Officials said the residential school, complete with all facilties, would be set up at Ishapur by the Department of Welfare of SC/ST/OBC/minorities in association with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Sources said the state government would provide the requisite infrastructure to set up the school. "We have already identified an existing school which will be renovated by the Public Works Department (PWD) as per specification provided by KISS, which will manage the school," said a senior Delhi government official.

The Delhi government will provide financial assistance for functioning of the school for five years and expects it to become self-sufficient by then.

"At present, KISS is running the biggest residential institute for tribal children in South Asia, in Odisha, where 10,000 tribal children are provided residential facilities and education from kindergarten to the post-graduate level. We are hoping this residential school will help students to get proper educational facilities under one roof," said the official.

In addition to this, the cabinet is also to clear a proposal to install fire-fighting equipment in 440-odd government schools. This will cost approximately Rs. 120 crore. The equipment will be installed in compliance with a court order, which had earlier set requisite guidelines for the same.

“The school will have sprinklers and we are going to follow the latest norms while installing the fire fighting equipment in all classrooms,” the officer added.