With an aim to empower and encourage girl students to complete higher education, the UT education department in a meeting held earlier this month decided to provide free bicycles to them. The bicycles will be provided to girl students of Class 11 and 12 who belong to families of priority household under the National Food Security Act.
DPI (schools) Rubinderjit Singh Brar said the initiative would help empower girls of weaker sections of society in the backdrop of the Beti Bacchao Beti Padhao initiative.
Brar said the distribution of bicycles would begin in January 2016. School heads of Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS) and Government Senior Secondary Schools (GSSS) were asked to supply the list of girl students who study in Class 11 and 12 and fit the criteria.
A budget of `9.31 lakh has been sanctioned to carry out this initiative. The constitution of a technical committee was also proposed to finalise specifications and purchase of bicycles.
District education officer, Vinay Sood, said approximately 274 girls would benefit from this initiative in the UT.
An education department official further said, “The main objective of the scheme is to ensure participation and completion of senior secondary education of girl students without any hindrance and to give them an incentive to continue to come to school.”
The official added that since girls are forced to drop out of school due to poor economic conditions of families and other factors such as distance between home and school; it is believed the scheme would cater to reservations of families.
{{/usCountry}}The official added that since girls are forced to drop out of school due to poor economic conditions of families and other factors such as distance between home and school; it is believed the scheme would cater to reservations of families.
{{/usCountry}}Lauding the move, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, Harbir Anand, said, “It’s indeed a noble idea as it would encourage young girls. We have already submitted our details to the department and only one student is eligible from our school as per the priority household criteria.”