The schools will be set up in areas with a considerable amount of Santhal population such Purulia, Midnapore, Bankura and Burdwan.

"We have introduced Santhali as a subject and have been printing books at the primary level. But there has been no progress where the students are taught using Santhali as the medium," said Partho De, school education minister.

The department now plans to identify the population of San thals in various districts which is interested in sending children to school and that which wants children to attend Santhali schools, said the minister.

The minister said the department will keep printing books for classes V onwards so that the requisite material is ready till the students reach higher classes.

In terms of developing infrastructure, the department is planning to set up new schools and appoint teachers trained in Santhali, said De. "I will talk to the Higher Education department so that it can start a method of teaching in Santhali at the BEd level as well. In terms of primary teachers training, there are still some problems which we will try to remove as quickly as possible," he said. There are not more than 14 schools in the state that offer Santhali as a subject at the Madhyamik and Higher Secondary levels. De said he will meet District Inspectors and primary school council chairpersons on December 18.