Nishant Saxena

The Atal Residential School in Lucknow, one of the 18 such schools planned to be established in divisional headquarters across the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is set to begin classes from July 2023. The school, constructed at a cost of Rs 70 crore, is spread across 17 acres in Sithorikala (Mohanlalganj block) and will provide free of cost education and residential facilities to children from financially poor backgrounds from Classes 6 to 12, following the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum.

According to the school principal, Sukhvir Singh, 40 boys and 40 girls will be given admission to Class 6 for the upcoming academic session, and children whose parents have e-shramik cards (for at least three years) and are registered with the Uttar Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (UPBOCW), as well as those who lost either or both parents due to Covid and were born between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2013, are eligible for admissions to the school. The selection of students will be done through an entrance test to be held on June 11.

The spokesman added that the school would have academic blocks, separate hostels for boys and girls, a mess, teachers’ quarters, and a principal residence. The children will also receive free school dress, books, and school bags. Interviews for the 11 sanctioned teaching posts have already been conducted, and appointment letters will be issued soon.

Divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob has instructed officers to ensure transparent selection of children in the Atal Residential School. She added that the scheme’s basic objective is to develop the intellectual, physical, and overall personality of registered labourers’ children, orphans, and destitute children working in the building and other construction processes and bring them to the mainstream of society.

The establishment of residential schools across the state was announced by chief minister Yogi Adityanath in 2019. Named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, these schools will provide free education and lodging to financially poor children, along with the aim of developing their overall personality.

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