Karnataka government, from next academic year, has decided to provide free education to girls from class one to graduation level in all public and aided private schools and colleges.
The government would reimburse all fees except examination fees of the students, irrespective of their family’s annual income.
Highlighting the decision as a major move towards women’s empowerment, Karnataka’s Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said, “The government is planning to earmark Rs 110 crore to implement the scheme.”
The minister said, the government is expecting to cover around 18 lakh students under the scheme.
Similar schemes have also been launched in Telangana and Punjab. While Telangana has announced free education for girls from kindergarten to post-graduation, Punjab has extended the scheme till PhD.
Though mainly in rural areas unprivileged girls drop out of school after class 10, but the government would not discriminate between cities and rural areas to impart free education.
