Girls Education in Manipur: Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme

GIRL’S EDUCATION IN MANIPUR Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) is one of the jealously guarded Government Schemes in India. The scheme is set to uplift the educational standard of the ST/SC/OBC/ minority girl students. We can say that this scheme is in supplement to such schemes that aim to ‘education for all’ as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (presently Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan). At present, eleven KGBVs are functioning to uplift educational standard of the targeted groups. The distribution of the KGBVs in the state is not uniform across the District; the reason may be due to different demographic composition of the Districts and overall distribution of social categories in the State. Though there are ambitious schemes in India, one of the challenges is to evaluate the schemes if they fulfil the goals set. The present work of Ms Manilei Serto is to evaluate the functioning of the KGBVs in Manipur so that we can understand if they are in the right direction. Having wide range of objectives covering the infrastructural requirements, profiles of the teachers, educational atmosphere, health facilities, classrooms and teaching-learning process, the work gives, though briefly, a descriptive picture of the KGBVs in Manipur. The school management, in its widest sense, is not uniform; some KGBVs are managed with various local authorities such as local MLA, church or village authority. Though there is room for conflict of interest, there is actually no issue so far. One of her finding is “the majorities of the KGBV students are efficient and have knowledge of the subjects of their grades”.