The Odisha government has asked district collectors to work for bringing back 30 per cent of their students who did not return to schools after a gap of two years due to the Pandemic. Around 70 per cent of students are attending classes, according to the daily attendance data provided by the District Education Officers DEOs, according to a letter from the School and Mass Education Department secretary BP Sethi to the districts.
He said that attendance in classes 1 to 5 in districts such as Malkanagiri, Boudh, Gajapati, Sambalpur and Nuapada was less than the state average.
He said Malkanagiri, Boudh, Sambalpur and Nuapada are poor in the absence of attendance in classes 6 to 8 classes.
In the secondary section, attendance in schools in Gajapati, Bolangir, Bargarh, Sonepur, Nuapada, Cuttack, Khordha, Koraput, Ganjam, Boudh, Malkangiri, Keonjhar, Sambalpur is less than the state average, Sethi said.
He mentioned that the attendance in higher secondary classes in Gajapati, Sonepur, Baragarh, Kandhamal and Nuapada is a matter of concern.
The above figures lead us to believe that thorough analysis has to be made to know the whereabouts of the absentee students. These students who are not attending the offline classes may have dropped out of the classroom, along with their parents losing interest in academic activities due to the non-continuance of the teaching schedule due to the Pandemic situation and many other reasons that need analysis, he noted.
A review by the School and Mass Education Department also found that many students passing out of class 8 are not taking admission in class 9.
Sethi told the district collectors that they had to devise a location-specific strategy to bring back the students to the classroom.
The collectors asked the department to conduct a school-level survey to find the students who are not attending classes, as he stated that the department has prepared a strategy to bring back the absent students.
The junior teachers who are posted in schools may be sent to the houses of the absent students to know the reason behind their absence from the school, he said.
These junior teachers should encourage the students and their parents to send their ward to school and explain the benefits of sending the student to school and steps taken by the government to provide free books, free uniform, MDM mid-day meals and scholarships to students. He said something.
Sethi said panchayat members and woman self-help groups can also be roped in for the exercise.
The maximum attendance of students should be ensured as a Learning Recovery Plan LRP is under implementation by the government to help recover the students from the learning loss.