Bhubaneswar: The state government is working to expand the Anwesha and Akanksha schemes to ensure better education for the tribal children in the state.

"The focus is to make sure that more tribal students avail benefits under these two schemes," said the secretary of SC and ST department, Surendra Kumar.

Besides, 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.

"The idea is to make selected districts of the state as educational hubs to shift the focus from Bhubaneswar," Kumar said. The state government has decided to build around 250 hostels under the Anwesha scheme through which tribal children receive education in English-medium schools.

"We have set a target to reach out to 25,000 tribal children in the next two years," Kumar said.

This apart, a science and cultural event meant for SC and ST students, was held at the Adivasi Ground in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Sargiful, the annual science and cultural festival for SC and ST students.

About 1,500 students and teachers across the state are taking part in the 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 a 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 etc are being organised.

The participants were selected through block and district-level competitions held earlier. This year, screen and wall painting and sand art workshops have been organised at the event.