‘Kanyashree’ to be part of school syllabus next year: Mamata

<g data-gr-id="35">West Bengal </g>CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the ‘Kanyashree Scheme’, which was launched in 2013 with an aim to empower girls, would be part of the state’s school syllabus next year.

The scheme, which drew UNICEF’s attention, featured at the World Girls’ Summit, 2014 held in London. Banerjee asked her ministers and officials to see to it that a chapter on the <g data-gr-id="28">Kanyashree</g> scheme was included in the school syllabus.

“Girls, teachers and educationists are welcome to cooperate with their suggestions, which will be sent to the Syllabus Committee for consideration,” the chief minister said on the 2nd anniversary of “<g data-gr-id="23">Kanyashree</g> Day” on Friday.

“I am proud of our ‘Kanyashree’. They are our assets. They are the future of the world. All the best wishes to them,” Banerjee said announcing that all 27 lakh girls, who were enrolled under the scheme, would get a certificate when they are 18 years old. In the programme, financial assistance was transferred online to all 27 lakh girls enrolled under the scheme.

The UNICEF’s representative to India, Louis-Georges Arsenault, lauded the efforts of the West Bengal government at empowering girls and said the scheme could become a model for India. Meanwhile, the chief minister said, “We are still fighting for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament. Proud to say that my party Trinamool Congress has 35 per cent women MPs in Lok Sabha”. She also lauded the role of the UNICEF in promoting the scheme. UNICEF has partnered West Bengal government after scanning the feasibility of the scheme. Department for International Development, United Kingdom and UNICEF selected the scheme for presentation at the ‘World Girls Summit 2014’ in London.