30% students in Odisha not attending schools, says education department

The govt. fears students have either lost interest in studies or dropped out due to discontinuation of teaching schedule

After loss of two back-to-back academic sessions due to COVID-19 pandemic, about 30% students are now found not attending schools in primary, secondary and higher secondary classes in Odisha.

The disturbing trend came to the fore when the State government reopened schools after normalcy was restored and started checking attendance sheets.

“On analysis of the daily attendance figure provided by the District Education Officers, it is seen that about 70% students are attending the classes. However, on detailed analysis the figure, it is seen that the attendance in Class-I to Class-V in case of districts like Malkanagiri, Boudh, Gajapati, Sambalpur and Nuapada is less than the State average,” said Bishnupada Sethi, School and Mass Education (SME) secretary.

Mr. Sethi said this was not at all a healthy sign of students not attending schools despite government making provisions for midday meal and implementing learning recovery plan.

In order to compensate the learning loss, the State government curtailed summer vacation and rescheduled school timing from 6.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. The programme is being religiously tracked from block level.

“Similarly, in case of attendance for Class-VI to Class-VIII, the performance of districts like Malkanagiri, Boudh, Sambalpur, Nuapada is also less than the State average,” says the analysis.