Bhubaneswar, Oct. 28: In a departure from his usual official procedure, Governor M.C. Bhandare has conceptualised a scheme, Gyanalok, to reduce dropout rate among tribal children.

Usually, a government scheme is announced by the chief minister or any minister and details are then worked out by bureaucrats. But this time, the governor, considered a titular head or rubber stamp, has come out with a scheme to reach out to them who need it most. Bhandare had unfolded his idea at an official meeting at Raj Bhavan recently to discuss the matter. Aptly titled as Gyanalok, the scheme was conceptualised to spread the light of education among the children in tribal areas, where literacy rate is 33.37 per cent and particularly, female literacy rate is alarmingly low at 23.47 per cent.

According to a survey by the Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority, the gap between the literacy rate among male tribals and general students is 26 per cent, while the corresponding figure for the girls is 27 per cent. The dropout rate among the tribal children is 20 per cent — higher than the overall dropout rate at primary school level.

The fact prompted Bhandare — who believes that “illiteracy is the major cause of poverty” — to conceptualise a scheme to prevent dropout among tribal children, said a senior official of the state higher education department.

Gyanalok would be implemented on mission mode through the state higher education department, the nodal department for the scheme.

All the universities of the state were asked to conduct a survey and create a database on the dropout problem, the official said. National Social Service wings of each of the universities would play an active role in the implementation of the scheme.

NSS volunteers would visit each of the villages and motivate parents and children to come to schools. The dropout children would be attracted to education through sports and performing arts, he added.

Chief secretary Ajit Tripathy on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the progress of the scheme. University authorities were asked to prepare a budget for the implementation of the scheme.

If necessary, the scheme would be included under the MP local area development (LAD) or MLA LAD fund programmes, said an official in the chief secretary’s office. More schools in tribal areas would be encouraged to increase literacy level.

The norm for opening schools — with minimum student strength of 40 students — would be relaxed for tribal areas, the official added.