In a bid to check dropout rate and encourage education for all, the State is set to roll out the second phase of its ‘Vidyalaya Chale Chalaye’ campaign across Jharkhand on June 10. State School Education and Literacy Secretary Amrendra Pratap Singh has written to the Deputy Commissioners (DC) of all the 24 districts in Jharkhand to run the campaign in their districts on priority basis from June 10 to June 30, officials said on Wednesday.
“This time our focus is on retention of students. School Management Committees (SMC) and teachers will approach the guardians of the students who have dropped out of schools and convince them to continue their child’s education,” said Singh, adding that the districts with higher dropout rates have been given special instructions to improve the percentage of students’ enrollment in schools.
Teachers are expected to play a key role in the campaign. Singh said that the School Education and Literacy Department will also evaluate the performance of teachers on the basis of attendance in their class. “All teachers have been asked to achieve at least 75 per cent attendance in their class,” he added.
Earlier, the attendance records were manually maintained by teachers. Now, the department has installed the e-vidyavahini software which ensures online maintenance of attendance. “Earlier, many teachers would provide incorrect attendance records to prove healthy presence of students in their classes. Now, with e-vidyavahini, we will only get authentic records,” Singh said.
The students’ attendance in Jharkhand, Singh said, has never gone above 66 per cent. The department found out the figures on the basis of Midday Meal (MDM) consumed at schools.
At least 650 of 4562 panchayats in Jharkhand were declared dropout-free zones by their respective Mukhiyas in 2017. Later that year, the School Education and Literacy Department confirmed that 150 of these panchayats were dropout-free as per official records too.
Singh said that primary and upper primary classes have been streamlined, but the problem of frequent dropout still persists in the higher classes in Jharkhand. Activists say that frequent migration of labourers in search of employment is often one of the major reasons for dropout in schools here. Child labour and child marriage also contribute to it.
“Migration of farmers and labourers can be seen as major reasons for dropout as they often take their children along to other states,” said right to education activist Anup Horey.
The ‘Vidyalaya Chale Chalaye’ campaign was first launched by Chief Minister Raghubar Das in 2015 and saw positive results even in the hinterland. During the campaign; bureaucrats, politicians and activists came together to make the initiative a success.