Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday gave direction for providing free textbooks to the students of all private and unaided Odia medium schools across the state, like those studying in government-run schools.
The scheme of providing free textbooks, being taken up under the 5T initiative of the state government, will benefit over five lakh students of around 3,620 private and unaided Odia medium schools, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.
Under this scheme, students of Class-I to Class VIII will be provided free textbooks from the academic year 2024-25. The state ex-chequer will bear an expense of Rs 9.43 crore per year for this scheme.
It may be noted here that students of private Odia medium schools have been performing well in the annual High School Certificate (HSC) Examinations and also been demonstrating their skills in various fields.
The state government has been providing free textbooks to students of all government schools in the Odisha as well as to Odia students residing in other states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, the release added.
