Mamata bats for primary school infrastructure overhaul in state

Pradip Chatterjee, MP, 7 Aug 2024, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is eyeing an infrastructure revamp in primary schools of Bengal as she urged the state Education minister Bratya Basu to prepare a list of schools in the primary section which might undergo an overhaul in the next three years. 

Banerjee in the Assembly on Monday made it clear that her party Rajya Sabha MPs and MLAs will have to play their roles in further strengthening the infrastructure in primary schools. “Let us make a plan for three years on how we can proceed. I would urge the education minister to prepare a list.

I would request our party MLAs to take some responsibility for two schools from their jurisdiction every year. Our Rajya Sabha MPs can also provide funds for the development of the schools. The state Education department will also take responsibility,” Banerjee told the Assembly. 

Banerjee also stated that Bengal has gone much ahead in the development of infrastructure in several fields. 

Raising her voice against the Centre’s deprivation, Banerjee said that the Centre has stopped Bengal’s dues under various heads such as MGNREGA, Awas Yojana, rural roads infrastructure. Central government has also stopped food subsidies. 

“We want the Centre to provide us the dues so that our infrastructure gets enhanced in various fields,” she added. The leaders of the ruling party in Bengal time and again alleged that the Centre was not providing funds to carry out literacy drives whereas the national rate of literacy is 73 per cent compared to Bengal’s 76 per cent. 

According to the 2011 Census, the literacy rate in Bihar is 55 per cent, Odisha is 69 per cent, Assam is 62 per cent and Jharkhand 60 per cent. 

He said steps have already been taken to expedite the literacy drive in all the districts. In Bengal, West Midnapore has the highest literacy rate which is 92 per cent while in Uttar Dinajpur and Purulia, the rates are 69 per cent and 64 per cent respectively. 

Meanwhile, The National Education Policy advocated the inclusion of Class V in the primary level and all the major states have completed the process. 

The School Education department last month started the second phase of bringing class V within the aegis of primary education to counter the dearth of teachers in upper primary level. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/bangladeshis-stranded-in-kolkata-worried-about-ongoing-violence-in-their-country-574824?infinitescroll=1