Vijayawada: Stress on quality education for Dalit girls

Vijayawada: School Education Principal Secretary B Rajasekhar said here on Tuesday that education was important for Dalit girls but it was high time the stress should be on quality education.

He was addressing the seminar on 'Dalit girl child-Access to quality education' organised in connection with the 14th annual state conference of Dalit Sthree Sakthi. Rajasekhar said that State government was giving utmost importance to the girl education. "Earlier, the problem used to be the proximity of the schools for the girls but now the problem is providing quality education," he said.

The principal secretary, elaborating the schooling system in Delhi, stressed on the importance of English medium for dalit girls. Former IAS officer Chaya Ratan said that women secured rights after long struggles and reforms. She said that the parents should take care of their children to mould them into good citizens. "The teachers should be more responsible in shaping the future of the students," she said.

Gaddam Jhansi, national convener of Dalit Sthree Sakthi (DSS), explained the 14 years long struggles and victories of the DSS. She thanked the women leaders who cooperated with the DSS all these years.

She said that they had undertaken gender sensitisation in the schools and villages last year. She exhorted Dalit women to join the mainstream to come forward. Principal secretary B Udayalakshmi, Yesuratnam, managing director of Christian Minorities Corporation, Mahesh of Quest Alliance, retired bank manager Sanja Ambedkar, Manikyam, DE of AP Transco, Dr Siddhoji Rao and others participated in the meeting which was presided by Daniel Prakash, general manager of DSS.

Earlier, Chaya Ratan and B Rajasekhar released the 14th annual report of DSS. A sizable number of women activists from various districts participated in the meeting.