The Directorate of Education has established an online module for monitoring the attendance track of the Economically Backward Section students who were admitted with their respective quota in private schools.
It was reported that private schools were instructed to reserve 25% of their seats for the economically backward section students and disadvantaged students which also includes Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, transgender children and those affected by HIV/AIDS.
None of the systems have been developed to track the attendance schedule of the students. The module will track the attendance schedule regularly, for helping private schools take action against the students dropping out.
“The purpose is to monitor dropouts. If we find that a student has not been attending classes for over a month, we can access our records and contact their parents to find out why this is the case. If it is because of domestic problems, then we can provide guidance. Most importantly, we want to find out if the reason is school-related. If it is because the student is not being integrated into the school academically or culturally, and the child is uncomfortable there. Then we can contact the school and take action if need be,” said a senior official in the education department.
‘Out of school children’ refers to those candidates have never been enrolled or the ones who drop out of school. Education department informs that the reason could also be the low attendance.
The education department has informed that the module is awaiting the approval of the education minister and district officials. It is scheduled to be established at the beginning of the upcoming academic session.