Expressing dismay over the apparent drop in school admissions in Mysuru district this year, Aam Aadmi Party Mysuru District president Malavika Gubbivani has sought to know from the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education the reason for the “sharp decline” in admissions and steps taken in this regard and to deal with the challenges the department has been facing post-pandemic.
“There is a drop of nearly 13,000 admissions alone in the district,” she claimed.
Till August last year, there were 1.76 lakh student admissions in the government schools in both primary and high schools. But this year, due to alleged ‘neglect’ from the Education Department, the strength has come down to 1.63 lakh – showing a drop of about 13,000,” maintained Ms. Gubbivani, in a press release here on Monday.
“The department must investigate the reason for such high decline in admissions and take corrective steps to increase the strength at least in the next year. People were already financially distressed due to COVID-19 and the lockdown in previous years besides high inflation. In such a scenario, the government should have increased the number of government schools to provide better quality education to students from poor families. They should be thinking of opening new schools and improving existing schools,” she demanded.
“Insufficient infrastructure, shortage of teachers and staff, agitation by employees, and disinterest of the department in improving standards of education is driving the students away from the government schools. Most of these students come from poor and middle class families. Many have taken loans to admit their wards to private schools. Those who cannot afford private schools are being denied good quality education,” the AAP leader claimed.
