Bhubaneswar: As many as 966 primary schools in the state where the student strength is less than 10 in the current year will be closed down.
School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Das said the students of these schools would be adjusted in the nearby schools.
The minister said the students would be given conveyance allowance if the distance of the school in which they would be adjusted is more than one km.
Das said the allowance would be given for a period of 10 months in a year as the schools would remain closed during summer vacation for two months.
He said the allowance would be given to students calculating their attendance.
The minister said a student would be eligible to get Rs 300 per month if his/her attendance in the school is within 30 to 49 per cent, Rs 400 if the attendance is within 50 to 74 per cent and Rs 500 per month if the attendance exceeds 75 per cent.
No transport allowances would be given to the students if the attendance was less than 30 per cent.
Das said the money would be transferred to the accounts of the parents of the students directly.
The teachers of the schools identified to be closed would be transferred to schools where there was a shortage of teachers, he said.