The Centre is likely to provide free laptops to SC students pursuing higher education.
Sources said that a provision for free laptops would soon be incorporated in the ongoing scheme of Post-Matric scholarships to SC students.
In order to curb the high drop-out rate at the elementary stage, the Twelfth Plan document, which was approved by the Planning Commission, suggested that the Pre-Matric scholarship scheme should be extended to all the SC students.
The Pre-Matric scholarship is being implemented for children of those engaged in manual scavenging. Apart from retention in schools, the plan document also wanted the government to provide the children with quality education and other incentives such as free supply of books, mid-day meals and hostels to SC children.
The plan document, in appraisal of Eleventh Plan, said “Access to good quality schools or residential schools still remain much below the actual requirement for SC students, especially girls.”
The plan document suggested that the good quality residential schools for SC boys and girls need to be set up in blocks with high SC population to ensure that all meritorious SC girls and boys have access to such residential schools and the percentage of the SCs in such schools should be at least 50 per cent.