Jaya to put funds to good USE

CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday took giant strides to providing a true system of Uniform School Education by announcing a slew of measures, some of them a first-of-its-kind in India, proving wrong the notion created by certain political parties that she had no genuine intention to implement USE.In fact, on Friday, she went many steps ahead in fulfilling the recommendations of Muthukumaran Committee, which is the basis for USE.Leaders of Left parties, main opposition party DMDK, Congress, PMK and RPI welcomed the Chief Minister’s announcements in the State Assembly.While a whopping sum of Rs 1,082.71 crore will be spent to improve infrastructure in government schools by constructing additional classrooms, toilets, compound walls and providing drinking water, Jayalalithaa said that 13,300 new teachers will be appointed during the current financial year itself at a cost of `315.30 crore. Similarly, 16,549 part-time teachers will be appointed at an expenditure of nearly Rs 100 crore and 3,187 Post Graduate Teacher posts will be created at a cost of Rs 90.70 crore.Recalling her poll promise to lighten children’s school bags, Jayalalithaa said a trimester pattern will be introduced next academic year, thereby dividing textbooks of the full academic year into three (lighter) sections. Pressure of examinations would also reduce as a Continuous and Comprehensive Assessment system will be introduced in all schools.