Chhattisgarh govt to launch special campaign for school dropouts

Dropout students especially in the rural areas of Chhattisgarh will not run away from the schools anymore. For, the state government is going to launch a special campaign to bring them to the class rooms.

The state chief secretary, Sunil Kumar has issued strict instruction to the officials of the department of school education to “track” such students who have quit schools. The officials have been asked to keep the record of such students.

The number of dropout students normally soars up in the rural areas where literacy rate is also low. Due to financial constrains and other problems, parents prefer to keep their children away from the class rooms or opt for primary education only.

The matter came up for discussion during the meeting of state executive committee of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission (RGSM) held here on Friday. “Taking serious note of the dropout students, the chief secretary instructed the officials to launch a special campaign from the next academic session,” a senior education department official said.

Under the campaign, the department would ensure cent per cent admission of children in the schools. The students who had quit the school would be brought back by tracing them out. Kumar had instructed the officials for health examination of the students in the government schools from the next academic session.

The state government had also decided to crack down on the private schools violating the norms and not giving admission to the students from the economically weaker sections of the society. Kumar said that the private schools would be given the guideline asking it not to discriminate poor students from others.

The RGSM meet also approved the annual plan with an estimated cost of Rs 3125.31 crore. Under the plan, 106 new schools would be opened in the state besides 13 new Kasturba Gandhi girls residential schools.

The new schools include 42 primary and 64 high schools. The chief secretary had instructed the officials to speed up the work of constructing new school buildings.