In what can be called as an example for government schools in other states, Chhattisgarh has recorded a significant development as the dropout rate in government schools has reduced to less than one per cent in the state, Chief Minister Raman Singh said on Tuesday.
“Earlier in schools, 12 out of 100 children did not progress to the middle school after junior school. Now the dropout rate has reduced to one percent from 12 percent. This is a huge achievement for us,” the chief minister said while addressing a rally.
The chief minister said the reduction in the school dropout rate clearly indicates that children are getting better environment and resources for education in government schools than private schools.
“It is a major national-level achievement and this has led to significant improvement in the quality of education,” the chief minister added.
The chief minister was delighted to say that children from the poor, middle-class and rich families are also taking interest to study in government schools now.
“Yesterday I felt nice to see a collector’s child taking admission in a government school. I myself have studied in a government school, and my kids have followed the same,” he added.
Talking about the issue of shortage of subject teachers in schools, the chief minister said the problem will be resolved very soon.
“I came to know that there is a lack of subject teachers. I have, therefore, instructed recruitment of ad-hoc teachers immediately,” he said, adding, “Agriculture will also be introduced as a subject to students from the next session.”
Earlier, the Chhattisgarh government had agreed to bring 1.50 lakh teachers who are at present working under panchayats and other local bodies, under the ambit of the state school education department.
As per a survey conducted by the MHRD, over 1,67,072 out of 44,59,796 students were out of schools in 2014 in Chhattisgarh.
Another national survey, conducted by the Social and Rural Research Institute, found that over 94,317 children in the 6-13 age group have never been enrolled in any school in the state.
The Chhattisgarh government has implemented a number of schemes such as mid-day meal, free school uniforms, bicycles, and books to pull children towards school. Along with these, basic amenities like toilets and drinking water facilities are also being provided to bring more children to schools.
