Ahmedabad: The district education officer (DEO) for Ahmedabad City has ordered schools to survey pupils who have left classes in grades 9 through 12. The DEO order on February 5 said that the survey report must be provided in five days. The DEO had earlier requested schools to complete the survey, but school administrations disregarded the directive. As a result, the DEO has now given a strict order.
The dropout rate in basic and upper secondary schools is very high, according to sources. The Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) department has been requesting information from the city’s schools regarding the number of students who are not enrolled in the school as well as their reasons behind it. However, there has been no progress in this matter, the news report added. The SSA department had ordered a state-wide survey to enable the state government to figure out measures to get these children back to schools under the Right to Education Act 2009 (RTE).
The latest order from DEO has asked all school principals to conduct the survey and upload reports on the state government’s Child Tracking System (CTS). Through these reports, details of dropouts can be collected. Following this, the government can take appropriate action or measures to get these children back to school.
To conduct this survey smoothly and efficiently, principals have been asked to form special teams. The DEO has also asked the education observers to monitor the survey closes on a day-to-day basis. They have also ordered the principals to ensure that the schools complete the survey within the given deadline.