PATNA: CM Nitish Kumar has directed the authorities concerned to get all the schools which are in possession of security forces vacated. The directive came during a meeting of the Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) held on Thursday evening.
It was pointed out at the meeting that several schools, particularly in Maoist-affected areas, had been turned into police camps. The CM said police pickets be removed from the school buildings immediately.
Briefing media about the decisions taken at the meeting, HRD minister P K Shahi said it was decided to upgrade Talimi Markaz and Utthan centres into residential schools even if the Union government does not extend its help. These centres opened for the out-of-school children of Muslim and Mahadalit societies provide pre-school elementary education.
The CM expressed satisfaction of the decline in out-of-school children which is now stood at 3.5 per cent. He, however, expressed concern over drop-out rate of 11.2% which is 2% higher than national average.