Bhubaneswar: In a historic decision, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday ordered to provide free textbooks to the private and unaided Odia medium schools across the State.
The scheme will be implemented as part of the 5T initiative from the academic 2024-25 academic year. The State Government will provide free textbooks to students from Class I to VIII. This will benefit more than 5 lakh students of 3620 private and unaided schools in the state. For this, the State Government will spend Rs 9.43 crore annually.
It is worth noting that children studying in private Odisha medium schools have been performing well in the annual HSC Examinations and have also demonstrated their skills in various fields.
The State Government has been providing free textbooks to students of all government schools in the state and also providing free textbooks to Odia children in states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.