Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: The state government will shortly upgrade ashram schools into high schools and the latter into higher secondary in an aim to provide better education to tribal children.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik made the announcement on the inaugural day of Sargi Ful, an annual science and cultural fest for SC and ST students, on Adivasi Ground today.

"Around 65 ashram schools and 21 high schools will be transformed in the process. The process will be completed in the next two academic sessions," said secretary of SC and ST department Surendra Kumar.

The decision was taken because of the need to improve facilities provided at the schools at present. "To deal with problems such as lack of teachers, poor quality education, health care and to ensure better enrolment figures, there was a need to convert the schools," said Kumar.

Also, the state government has decided to build around 250 hostels under the Anwesha scheme through which tribal children receive education in English-medium schools.

"At present, most of schoolchildren stay in rented accommodation. Our aim is to accommodate them in government hostels," said Kumar. Around 8,000 tribal children have been enrolled in the English-medium schools in the past two years.

Also, six hostels, three for girls and three for boys, will be built in Rourkela, Sambalpur and Berhampur under the Akanksha scheme. Each of these hostels will have accommodation facilities for 500 students. These hostels are for those tribal children who come to the urban areas to study in colleges and universities. There are two such hostels in Bhubaneswar now. While the one for girls is functioning, the other is yet to be inaugurated. "The aim is to ensure that more tribal children and students avail benefits under these two schemes," said Kumar.

About 1,500 students and teachers across the state are taking part in the Sagri Ful event aimed to provide the participants with a platform to display their talents and encourage them to perform better. A series of activities have been lined up for the event including science exhibition, debate, essay, dance and music competitions. Besides, 30 workshops on clay modelling, making the best of waste, puppetry, filmmaking, photography, photo editing, mock reporting and so on are being organised.

The students were selected through block and district-level competitions held earlier, which tested their abilities in various fields.

Rashui Bankura from Jajpur who took part in a mask-making workshop said: "I made a lot of friends and working as a team was a good experience." A volleyball competition, for both boys and girls, will also be held.