Rajendra Prasad Singh High School to become co-educational:

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday announced that the Rajendra Prasad Singh High School here, formerly known as the Patna High School, which is celebrating its centenary, will henceforth open admissions for girl students as well.

Addressing a function organized as part of the centenary celebrations, where Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was among those present, the chief minister said he did not believe in segregating boys and girls at school level and this was the reason why the high school would be a co-educational institution from the next session.

"Arrangements should be in place for teaching both boys and girls at the school. If it requires construction of additional structures, recruitment of additional number of teachers, that will be done", he said.

Kumar also pointed out that the school has been renamed after freedom fighter Rajendra Prasad Singh, a matric student who was shot dead along with a number of other youngsters while trying to unfurl the tricolor while the Quit India movement of 1942 was at its peak.

"We must pay our respects to the man who attained martyrdom at such a young age, fighting for the country's freedom. To this end, we have decided to install a huge statue of his inside the premises. Besides, the large open space here will be converted into a stadium named after him", Kumar added.

The chief minister also spoke about the initiatives taken by his government which have caused the drop-out rates fall significantly since 2005 when he took over.

He also spoke about schemes like free uniforms and bicycles to school-going girls which led to a dramatic rise in the number of female students.

"But, we do not believe in any type of discrimination. Hence, when a demand was raised that boys too should get free bicycles, we brought them under the purview of our scheme", he added.