With just two days left for the re-opening of school in the state, the parents in the old city are yet to recover from the mayhem caused by the pandemic and are showing less inclination towards sending their wards into schools.
Eschewing any mention of increasing school dropouts in the old cities due to the prevailing situation would be completely unjust as scores of families have already part over the responsibility of providing school education to their children due to volatile economic conditions emerge out of lockdown.
There are 10,984 recognized budged schools in the entire Telangana state wherein around 33 lakh students are enrolled. Only 5 districts such as Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal, Vicarabad, and Sangareddy have 4,500 budget schools wherein 16 lakhs students are pursuing their academics. That means the students of these five districts alone account for over 50% of the whole strength enrolled in the entire state. Moreover, out of 5.34 lakh students, enrolled in 10th class, at least two lakh of them comes from these above five districts, explained Yadagiri Shekar Rao, President Telangana Recognised Schools Management Association (TRSMA).
“As per conservative estimation, the percentage of school dropouts in the old city goes up to 30 percent ever since the lockdown was imposed. The more the situation plays a grim role, the less the parents come forward to send their children to school,” explained Mohammed Akther Shareef, President Telangana Private Schools Forum (TPSF).
Going by the reports in the section of media about the prevailing situation and the lack of proper arrangement and medical facilities to deal with the virus, the parents are still apprehensive about the repercussions their children might have to face due to their exposure to the contagion if the arrangements were proved to be not satisfactory.
“Though the people in the old city are gradually coming into terms with the situation created out of the coronavirus, they are not yet appeared fully convinced with the government’s sincerity towards making foolproof arrangement in schools in order to stave off the children from getting effected with the contagion,” said Prof.Ameeruddin, an educationist.
Expressing concern over the increasing number of school dropouts among poor families, he said, “In the old city – where the majority of the families fall below the poverty line, the percentage of school dropouts has increased to many folds recently as parents with the poor financial background are already started sending their children to earn wages instead of giving them their right to education,” He asserted.
Explaining the social enigma of the present education standards in the old city, he said, “Several parents are least satisfied with the educational standards of the schools here in the old city and this is the major reason behind parents lack interest in educating their children as sending them to corporate schools is also not possible for them due to their feeble financial condition,” he asserted.
“Families, that largely count on daily wages, try to find out ways to earn more than what they are getting on a daily basis and what is the more easiest way than engaging their own underage children into employment taking advantage of the situation created out of coronavirus,” contended Prof. Ameeruddin.
