Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribe and Youth Affairs P.K. Jayalakshmy inaugurating the Ekalya Model Residential School at Painavu in Idukki district on Saturday.

The Minister was inaugurating the Ekalavya Model Residential School under the Scheduled Tribe Development Department, completed as part of the 100-day programme of the State government, here on Saturday.

She said facilities and support would be provided to make them continue their education so that their uplift would be realised and life improved.

The Minister said that if improved facilities were provided, educational backwardness of the tribal people could be addressed. She said the residential school was a solution for bringing tribal children living in remote forest areas to a higher educational level.

One of the reasons for the backwardness in education was lack of facilities and support to the children, she said and added that the government would take all steps to eliminate such a situation.

The Minister said that all VIII class tribal students would be provided with bicycles and it was being implemented as part of the 100-day programme. A project had been drawn up to distribute laptops to those in the Scheduled Tribe category who got admission for engineering and medical courses this year, she said. By initiating tribal students to professional courses, their services would be available to the backward communities.

By bringing them to mainstream, their living condition and economic backwardness could be improved. This would eliminate various kinds of exploitation of tribal people, she said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/article2403501.ece