The district panchayat budget passed on Thursday has allocated Rs.75 crore for renovation of high school buildings and Rs.5 crore for improving play grounds of schools and to set up a stadium.
The high school buildings will be renovated under a project for which Rs.100 crore-loan will be taken from HUDCO.
These were some of the major projects in the budget for the education sector, for which Rs.7.27 crore had been earmarked for expenditure while another Rs.90.05 crore had been allocated for asset creation.
The budget allocated Rs.4 crore towards improving infrastructure in higher secondary schools while Rs.1 crore each had been allocated for separate blocks for labs in high schools and higher secondary schools and for buying more computers and setting up more computer blocks. Rs.1 crore had been allocated for improving infrastructure of VHSCs and Teachers Training Institutes.
Government schools with standout records will receive assistance for setting up assembly halls and fitness centres for which Rs.50 lakh has been set apart.
Vidyapoornima, a total primary education programme, had been allocated Rs.50 lakh. Schools will be painted and sanitation awareness boards will be installed at an expense of Rs.80 lakh. The budget had allocated Rs.25 lakh each for buying water purifiers in schools for ensuring safe drinking water and for setting up study houses complete with library and Internet for improving the academic performance of students from backward classes.
More teachers will be appointed for counselling of students and a recommendation to convert the post of school counsellors to guidance teachers will be forwarded to the State government. The budget has allocated Rs.50 lakh for this purpose.
The budget has allocated Rs.50 lakh and Rs.30 lakh for setting up digital libraries in Plus Two schools and for distributing school uniforms to high school students irrespective of financial background.
The existing Vidyadeepam project targeting Class X students who are behind in academics will be renamed to Vijayadeepam and extended to cover students of Classes VIII and IX as well.
Kitchens and biogas plants will be set up in all schools in panchayats for which Rs.50 lakh has been allocated. Another Rs.50 lakh has been allocated for making all schools under the district panchayat hygienic with the support of the Sanitation Mission.
The budget further allocated Rs.10 lakh each for improving infrastructure of single teacher schools in Kothamangalam and Perumbavoor constituencies and for setting up libraries and buying more books; Rs.5 lakh each for setting up anti-drugs clubs in schools and teenage clubs in colleges; Rs.1 lakh for giving various awards to schools and teachers performing well; Rs.3 lakh each for training in mussel farming for students of vocational higher secondary schools in the western regions and for undertaking paddy farming in school courtyards under the supervision of Krishi Bhavan; Rs.5 lakh for setting up Arogya Yuvatha clubs in colleges to ensure a healthy generation and Rs.1 lakh for making learning of mathematics more interesting.
