Starting February next year, the government will discontinue issuing school uniforms, shoes and socks for the students in central schools across the country except for those who need it genuinely. For now, the government has identified around 10,000 students who genuinely need the provision of these facilities.
In exchange for doing away with the provision of these facilities, the government said they will be providing the other central school facilities to all the students in boarding schools throughout the country.
“Now all the boarding schools are going to get central school facilities in fact, same beddings, mattresses, foods and also now all the schools are going to have all the IT facilities, laboratories and all,” said the Education Minister Jai Bir Rai.
“All boarding schools will have three good nutritious meals. Most of the schools will have two meals, mid-day feeding that includes breakfast and lunch. Some of the schools where breakfast is not given will give lunch. Those are in exchange to so-called freebies,” added Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering.
The government said discontinuing the provision of free school uniforms, shoes and socks will help re-establish the local economy which otherwise was affected.
“If you look, all clothes, shoes, socks, all things are being centrally procured. That affected the local economy. The business people who have their shops around the schools were affected. Basically all things are procured by the schools centrally on a tender basis. And the local economy was totally dead in fact. So we are revitalizing, re-energising, and also re-establishing local economy,” said the Education Minister Jai Bir Rai.
The government also said the central school system will remain forever and that they will come up with more central schools.
Samten Dolkar.
