Sabarmati,BRTS may hit school enrollment drives

Sources say most of the urban slums have been cleared to make way for either the BRTS or the Sabarmati riverfront,which could lead to low enrollment in municipal schools. For instance,there are about 30 municipal schools on the Sabarmati riverfront. The number of students in these schools,till the demolition of slums,was around 10,000. However,after the demolition of slums in October last year,the number drastically fell by more than 50 per cent.

“This year,Ahmedabad Municipal School Board is concerned about student enrollment. To find a solution,we held meetings of school principals,teachers and board officials ahead of this drive. This year,the stress will be on motivating those students who cannot afford education of a private school to shift to corporation schools,” says Municipal School Board chairman Jagdish Bhavsar.

This was the first time that a pre-enrollment drive — Shiksha Prasar Yatra — was carried out in the city to interact personally with the residents and motivate them to send their children to schools. The month-long drive that ended in March covered all the 43 wards in the city.

The second reason identified by the authorities for low enrollment in municipal schools is the development of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridors. “With the construction of these corridors,small children staying in slums on the footpaths and alongside these corridors failed to cross iron railings and thus dropped out of schools,” said a teacher in Nava Vadaj,where children from “Ramapir no Tekro” (a slum) used to study.

Other similarly affected areas include Astodia and Bhudarpura,where enrollment in Jamalpur school number four and Ellis Bridge school number 17 were hit,respectively.

As a remedy,authorities are planning to open schools right in the middle of these slums. Some make-shift schools and schools from rented building had also started recently.

Another reason why enrollment may be low this year is a new guideline issued by the State Education Department,which says only those children born before June 1,2007 are eligible for admission in government schools across the state. Earlier,the cut-off date was August 31. It is said that the date has been changed in keeping with the Right to Education Act.

Principal Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said,“No such problem has been brought to my notice. It must be existing at the micro levels. But if there is such an issue,the authorities will certainly take corrective measures.”

Free bags,uniforms for BPL children

Apart from distributing bicycles and Vidyalaxmi bonds of Rs 2,000 each to children from BPL families,students enrolling in schools will be given school bags,uniforms,books,pencils,erasers and writing boards. With the state celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand as the “year of youth power”,school bags and books to be distributed free among students enrolled in Class I during the shala praveshotsav and kanya kelavani will have pictures of Vivekanand on it.