As life is coming closer to the pre-coronavirus period, more and more states have opened schools and other educational institutions which are taking classes offline. Malls, cinemas and other entertainment zones are opening as well.
An official from district Samagra Shiksha, “If students do not involve in education activities for a month, we consider them to be out-of-school children. When we checked, nearly 24,977 students did not move to the next class.”
Recently, in Coimbatore, the government noticed a lot of children missing from the classes. This had never happened before. After surveys and various checks, it has been found out that nearly 25,000 children have dropped out of schools because of the pandemic. This data was revealed by the education Management Information System (EMIS) portal.
“Many students have gone to work along with their parents. The parents got the Transfer Certificates (TC) but have not admitted their children in schools yet,” worried the official.
Teachers update the status of students on the EMIS portal and the progress is checked regularly. Once the student drops out or does not move on to the next class, their names get listed on the ‘common pool’ in the portal.
It is known that students have been allegedly removed from their schools because of non-payment of fees. This has happened a lot in the private schools of Coimbatore. The official even stated that instances were sighted when students stayed away from their education for 2 months.
The official data have revealed that the surveyors have been actively engaged in field visits. This has been done since 10th August with the help of government and private school teachers.
After surveys, it was found out that many students had to return back to their hometowns after the pandemic since the parents had initially come to Coimbatore only for work.
The official said that they have passed on to other district administrations the details of the students that migrated from Coimbatore district, in an attempt to enrol them in schools again. “We have found 21,000 students’ present education status and of that 60% of students have returned to schools, polytechnic colleges, ITI, thanks to the survey. Steps have been taken to bring remaining students into education activities soon.”
