Govt wants to test out SC/ST boarding schools

The proposals have been sent for inclusion in the Tenth Plan and once okayed will become operative in three months, he added. The ministry is on the defensive when asked whether having schools exclusively for SC/STs would reinforce their segregation from society. ‘‘It will never be 100 per cent SC/ST. Even in the special schools for the disabled, the non-disabled children are admitted,’’ Alok Srivastava, secretary to the minister, said.

The Ministry also defends the proposal on the issue of the schemes duplicating the efforts of Navodaya schools that have managed to maintain a brilliant academic record in the country and offer over 24 per cent representation to SCs and 15 per cent to STs (double the required quota). Says Srivastava: ‘‘So the schools will be set up after identifying areas where supplementary efforts are needed. They will come up only where there is a big concentration of SC/STs and a dearth of good schools. There are places where the literacy rate of SC girls is below two per cent, and where private people are unwilling to go.”

While the government is mulling over opening new schools, Navodaya Vidyalayas have been functioning out of temporary buildings. Only 300 out of the 468 schools have permanent buildings. The 168 schools, which are in temporary lodgings, are forced to admit only half the permitted strength of 80 students, says Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Joint commissioner Rakesh Sharma. Social Justice Minister Satyanarayan Jaitiya dismisses questions on the schemes saying they were still at a very early stage of conception and awaiting approval of the Planning Commission and Finance Ministry.