Gandhinagar, July 1 (IANS). More than 16.35 lakh students were enrolled in 37,211 schools during the three-day ‘Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani Mahotsav’ in Gujarat. State government spokesperson and minister Jitu Vaghani said on Wednesday that the campaign is aimed at increasing enrollment in schools and reducing the dropout rate.
Giving information after the cabinet meeting, Vaghani said that this campaign was run under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the objective of which is to increase literacy in the state and ensure enrollment of all children in schools.
He said that the 24th Shala Pravesh Utsav was started from BN High School in Vadnagar, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi received his primary education.
Sharing the enrollment figures, the Minister said that during this campaign, more than 1.93 lakh children started education in Anganwadi and nursery schools. While more than 4.34 lakh children are enrolled in Kindergarten, more than 1.05 lakh students are enrolled in Class 1, more than 5.93 lakh students are enrolled in Class 9 and more than 3.08 lakh students are enrolled in Class 11.
To make education accessible, the government has also started transport facility in about 2,766 schools.
He said that 13,084 meritorious girl students were provided ‘Vidyalakshmi Bonds’ for further education, thereby promoting girl education.
The minister said that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi, cabinet members, public representatives and senior officials personally reached the schools during the three-day campaign.
Additionally, donors from across Gujarat contributed more than Rs 28.97 crore for education-related causes.
The minister said that the objective of this campaign is to increase the literacy rate of Gujarat and ensure 100 percent enrolment.
–IANS
AMT/DKP
