General Education Minister V. Sivankutty has said the government is considering extending the mid-day meal scheme to the pre-primary level.
Replying to the discussion on the demand for grants for his portfolios in the Budget on Thursday, Mr. Sivankutty said 1,19,970 students had gained admissions in State-run schools from Classes 2 to 10 this year. The steps adopted by the previous and current Left Democratic Front (LDF) governments had paved the way for an increase in intake of 10.54 lakh students in government schools since 2016, he said.
The government had distributed handloom uniforms to 9.58 lakh students. As many as 13.5 lakh students who did not come under the purview of the scheme had been provided ₹600 each as uniform allowance.
Mr. Sivankutty added that 2.73 crore first-volume textbooks across 288 titles had been distributed this academic year. The Kerala Books and Publishing Society had commenced steps to print 1.77 crore second-volume and 19.53 third-volume books that would be distributed without delay.
Higher Education and Social Justice Minister R. Bindu, who also rounded off discussions on the sectors she oversaw, said four model assistive villages would be established at Muliyar (in Kasaragod), Nilambur, Punalur and Kattakada to accommodate differently abled children and their families this year.
The village complexes were aimed at instilling a sense of support among the families of children suffering from intellectual disabilities, including autism. The community living arrangement was touted to foster cooperation among such sections. The project would be implemented as part of the ‘Anuyatra’ scheme undertaken by the Kerala Social Security Mission.
Dr. Bindu said the proposed villages would have necessary facilities, including child health care and Buds school. While preliminary work had already begun on the Kasaragod facility, the Nilambur and Punalur MLAs had assured steps to identify land required to set up the ‘villages’ in their constituencies.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan received the documents of 50 cents donated by Kattakada native Govindan Mestri for implementing the assistive village project on Thursday. The donor is confident the project will benefit numerous autistic children like his grandchild.
