Bhubaneswar: Concerned over about 30 per cent of students not turning out despite the reopening of schools in the State, the Odisha government has asked teachers to visit the houses of absentee students to know the reason for their absence and convince them to attend school.
“We need to know why 30 per cent of students are not turning out for whatever reason. We also need to know where they are. Especially, for that reason teachers have been asked to visit the houses of the absentee students to know the reason for their absence from the school,” informed School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash.
The School and Mass Education Department has started a process to get these children back to school by convincing the absentee students and their parents or guardians.
“The teachers have been given the main responsibility in the process. They will motivate the students and their parents to send their ward to the school and explain the benefit of sending the student to school and steps taken by the government to provide free books, free uniforms, MDM and scholarships to students, bicycles etc.,” Dash said.
Teachers will also take the help of the School Management Committees (SMCs), SMDCs at the panchayat level, PRIs and Women Self Help Groups and initiate community-level activities to get the students back to school, he added.
The Minister said that every effort will be made to get the students back to school before the start of the new academic session and as part of the process the departmental Principal Secretary has written a letter to Collectors of all districts in this connection.
