Odisha govt to deploy ‘sevikas’ in ‘sishu vatikas’ to aid pre-primary education

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Sunday decided to appoint ‘sevikas’ to take care of children in all ‘sishu vatikas’ across the state to support pre-primary education and reduce the non-teaching workload of school teachers.

The decision was approved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the CMO said in a statement.

‘Sishu vatikas’, launched in the current academic year under the National Education Policy (NEP), are functioning in over 45,000 government primary schools across the state.

These centres provide pre-primary education to children aged 5 to 6 years.

“The ‘sevikas’ will assist children in the classrooms and take care of their basic needs, which will help ease the burden on teachers and improve the quality of early education,” the statement said.

The ‘sevikas’ will receive remuneration on par with cooks engaged under the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme.

A recent situational study conducted by the government found that teachers were overburdened with managing classroom discipline and childcare in ‘sishu vatikas’, impacting the teaching process.

The CM expressed hope that the move would help in improving the quality of education of children at the pre-primary stage.

“Managing and taking care of small children in classrooms is a major responsibility. If this responsibility is left to the teachers, the education system will be disrupted,” the statement said.

PTI

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