In a major boost to secondary education in Uttar Pradesh, the Centre has decided to support the opening of 5,000 intermediate schools of the UP Board in the state, under its Rastriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan.

In addition to recruiting nearly one lakh teachers for these schools, the Centre will also bear 75 per cent of the initial as well as recurring costs, while the state will bear the other 25 per cent.

Work on these schools is likely to begin before the start of the next academic season. The responsibility of finalising the school sites has been entrusted with the state unit of the Rastriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan, headed by former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly.

Proposals for opening 225 schools in Allahabad, 358 in Lucknow region, 286 in Meerut, 48 in Kaushambi, 71 in Pratapgarh, 321 in Varanasi, 25 in Jaunpur, 250 in Mirzapur and 325 in Kanpur have already been communicated to the state government through district officials. “We have issued the necessary directions to the officials concerned to carry out the groundwork, including selection of land, assessment of staff requirement and the other one-time expenditures. Necessary inputs from most of the areas have been received and given to the HRD Ministry,” Higher Secondary Education Minister Rangnath Mishra told The Indian Express.

The schools will be opened in areas where there is no intermediate or high school within five kilometres. Once these sites are finalised, the Centre would release 75 per cent funds to the state government for construction.

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