Govt. schools in Virudhunagar asked to form panels to curb dropout rate and launch ‘back to school’ campaign

The district administration has appealed to heads of 300 government and government-aided schools to form school-level committee with teachers to arrest dropout rate of students from the schools

The district administration has appealed to heads of about 300 government and aided schools to form school-level committees with teachers to arrest the dropout rate.

Virudhunagar District Collector V.P. Jeyaseelan has written to heads of 100 government higher secondary schools, 67 aided higher secondary schools, 90 government high schools and 40 aided high schools highlighting the adverse impact that the discontinuation of education would have on each student.

Pointing to the attempts made by the district administration to bring dropout students back to school, the Collector said that such attempts had not been successful.

The Collector attributed several reasons that made students drop out of school. One of them was lack of interest in studies. Domestic reasons such as family problems and the burden on single parents were the other major causes that kept the students out of school. Similarly, addiction to television and mobile phones and friendship with older students and their influence on social behaviours made the students not go to schools. “If sincere attempts are made, at least 90% of these issues can be addressed,” Mr. Jeyaseelan said in his letter.

The Collector has suggested to form committees comprising heads of school along with two teachers, who volunteer to stop dropout. “The panel should make continuous efforts so that the students continue with their studies without any break. They should directly meet the students at their houses, analyse their problems, and ensure that they return to schools,” he said.

Mr. Jeyaseelan said the teachers had better understanding than others that the students out of school could take to evil ways. Such students could grow up with anti-social attitude creating trouble in society.

“Hence, putting dropout students back in school is not just in the interest of their academics and welfare, but also in the interest of creating a better society,” the Collector said in the letter.