Maharashtra govt to sponsor education upto class 12 for children orphaned by COVID-19

The Maharashtra government has announced that it will fund the education of children who lost their parents to Covid-19. The funding will be provided until they complete school-level education equal to class 12. In a tweet on Thursday, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said that the expenses of these children’s education will be borne by the Department of Higher and Technical Education. Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur had said the state government would ensure children orphaned by Covid-19 are nurtured and get protection as well as education.

कोरोनामुळे अनेक मुलांच्या डोक्यावरील आईवडिलांचे छत्र हरपले.पालकांचा आधार न राहिल्याने त्यांच्यासमोर शिक्षणाचा गंभीर प्रश्न उभा आहे. सदर मुलांना बारावीपर्यंतचे शिक्षण मोफत व पुढील शिक्षणाची जबाबदारी उच्च व तंत्र शिक्षण विभागाने घेण्याबाबतचा प्रस्ताव मा.मुख्यमंत्र्यांसमोर मांडला.

— Varsha Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) May 27, 2021

Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said a decision on class 12 board exams in the state, which has been postponed earlier, will be taken in a week. She said that the option of a “non-examination route” for the Maharashtra HSC exam should be explored because of the ongoing pandemic situation. However, the final decision is expected to be announced in the first week of June 2021. Earlier, the Kerala Government also announced a special package of Rs 3 lakh as immediate relief and a monthly aid of Rs 2,000 to the children orphaned till graduation due to Covid-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. Apart from that Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand governments as well announced financial support and free education for children whose parents died of COVID-19.