‘Which subject do you find toughest’: Gujarat education minister reaches out to school dropouts, at their doorstep

However, a few students remain who have decided not to get enrolled back in schools. On Tuesday, Rivaba Jadeja knocked on the doors of two such students – Sajalben Chandubhai Dhrangi who dropped out in Class X and Manishaben Rameshbhai Kateria, who dropped out in Class IX from the Government Secondary School, Ganava, in Poshina. The minister reached there unannounced, treading the hilly path despite the heat.

“Do not worry about the subjects, the teachers take responsibility for helping you understand every subject. You have to complete four more classes (IX to XII). Which subject do you find the toughest?,” she asked Manishaben, sitting on the cot along with her while urging teachers to take stock of her performance and find out which subjects which the girl finds difficult to tackle.

“I could have selected an area where the results are 100 per cent but I chose this instead. Till she (Manishaben) goes back to school, her teachers will be frequent guests here,” she said while addressing the teachers of the school.

However, despite measures such as tracking students who were in the education system till 2024-25 but dropped out in 2025-26 from Class I till X with the help of their unique identification numbers, teachers have to ensure that the 6.4 lakh students are enrolled back in schools or any other form of education institute, not all students are getting back to school.

Rivaba Jadeja told The Indian Express in an interview on Tuesday that the “geographical terrain” is one of the factors that deters parents from sending children, especially girls, to school.

“We are seeking and looking into reasons and the main reason, I feel, is the geographical circumstances of the state… The government is keen on providing facilities. From 2003 to 2026, the dropout has declined but due to the geographical circumstances such as these where the tribal people are settled in these hilly terrains and reaching there is difficult. Setting up infrastructure in hilly terrain is a challenge but the government has a strong mindset to cater to such areas and provide basic facilities such as health, education and drinking water. This school (Government Secondary School, Ganava) is one of the best examples. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in the village with a population of 800, children are talking about robotic labs,” Jadeja told this newspaper.

Earlier, the minister also visited 15-year-old Sajalben Chandubhai Dhrangi’s house. Speaking individually to Sajalben and her mother, Jadeja tried to find out the reasons for her quitting education while making efforts to convince her and her parents to let her complete her schooling.

Her father, Chandubhai Dharmabhai Dhrangi, a farmer with a land holding of around 4 bighas, claimed to The Indian Express that it is her daughter’s wish to quit education. However, his son, the eldest of five children, is enrolled in a nearby college in Metral in Khedbrahma taluka of the district.

Both were students of the Government Secondary School, Ganava, in Poshina. Sajalben dropped out in Class X as she started living at her maternal grandparents’ house after she had a dispute with her parents, while Manishaben dropped out in Class IX after she failed to clear exams.

Jadeja, who enrolled students at both the schools in the tribal taluka of Poshina – Demtimera Government Primary school and Government Secondary School, Ganava – said that she was to visit Mehsana but chose to reach Sabarkantha instead.

“I wanted to visit such areas along the border, periphery or tribal parts and thus selected Poshina especially because the requirement in such areas is higher, the need for guidance and reach of government schemes. It is the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who himself took the lead in enrolling girls in schools and we are associated with a party (BJP) that is inspired by the “antyodaya” ideology, where there should be last mile reach. Re-enrolling students, today we converted two girls from open schooling to mainstream education and visited two more. This is the main reason to show presence in such areas where there is an actual need. I will visit Mehsana too on the last day of the three-day drive,” the Minister said in her interview.

It was in 2003-04 that the then Chief Minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Kanya Kelvani Mahotsav and Shala Praveshotsav. This year, the state government is focusing on the out of school children – estimated to be around 6.41 lakh. As a part of the enrollment drive, Cabinet Ministers, IAS, IPS and IFS officers to local administrators and elected members will fan out across the state ensuring that children are enrolled at government schools.

The Education Minister also addressed the issue of “addiction” among women at the Demtimera Government Primary school during her address to parents. “You should keep yourself away from addiction, including paan, gutka and tobacco. You should concentrate on your and your child’s health and nutrition,” she said.

“Before I became MLA I visited more than 200 villages of Jamnagar district and talked to the women and discussed their issues, including societal problems. In tribal areas, we should take this as a social campaign roping in all the three departments – health, women and child development and education departments. The trio of departments are looking forward to working on this issue. Awareness through social media campaigns has increased and now women are aware about their health, hygiene and pregnancy and malnutrition,” she told this newspaper.

She enrolled 41 children in Balvatika and Class I at Demtimera Government Primary school in Poshina taluka of Sabarkantha district under the enrollment drive Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani on Tuesday.

A dismal picture

Poshina taluka has the highest dropout rate in Sabarkantha district comprising eight talukas – nearly double the district average both in secondary and higher secondary schools.

The dropout rate in secondary schools is 46.1 per cent (%) (boys 42.18% and girls 49.52%) and higher secondary schools is 39.3% (boys 43.25% and girls 36.27) against the district average drop out of 20.51% and 22.78% in secondary and higher secondary schools, respectively.

However, the drop out ratio of primary classes in Poshina taluka is 2.47% – boys 3.18% and girls 1.77%. “The enrolment in 113 government primary schools and 22 government and grant in aid secondary and higher secondary schools in Poshina is 29,765 of which 24,735 are primary school students,” district primary education officer (DPEO) K D Upadhyay told this newspaper.

Jadeja, making an announcement while appealing to parents to ensure that their children complete schooling, said the Ganava school would soon be upgraded to higher secondary level, with classes XI and XII.

Citing reasons for a high dropout rate among secondary classes in Poshina, Education Officer (DEO), Sabarkantha, Meera Gadhavi told The Indian Express later on Tuesday, “While children complete their primary education due to midday meal scheme, students drop out later mostly due to the geographical hilly terrain and scattered houses. Also, the vehicle facility provided by the government where the schools are far does not work here due to the terrain.”