The President of India, Smt. Draupadi Murmu inaugurated the newly constructed Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) at Badsahi, Mayurbhanj, Odisha. On this occasion, he said that education is very important for the development of the society. That is why the government is opening Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal students in remote tribal blocks. Now it is the responsibility of the parents to send their children to school. Senior dignitaries from the Central and State Governments were present on the occasion.
Eklavya Model Residential Model School (EMRS) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India to provide quality education to tribal students. In 2019, 452 new Eklavya residential model schools were sanctioned, one in each tribal block where there is 50% or more ST population and 20,000. The National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing the scheme. The recurring cost per student has been increased from Rs. 61,000 to Rs. 1,09,000 in 2019.
The Barsahi EMRS campus is built in approximately 8 acres of land. A typical EMRS will have 16 class rooms for 480 students of which 240 are girls and 240 are boys. There are separate hostels for boys and girls, mess, residential accommodation for the Principal, teaching and non-teaching staff, administrative block, playground, computer and science laboratories. These schools will prove to be a milestone for the all-round development of the tribal students of this area.
The school inaugurated by the Honorable President is one of the 25 schools constructed under the new scheme, where the construction cost of schools has been increased to Rs 38 crore in plain areas and Rs 48 crore in hilly areas. Earlier, President Murmu had also inaugurated schools in Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.