Coimbatore: Class XI science group students at the government higher secondary school at Bujanganur near Karamadai are allegedly forced to either take up arts group or leave the school,
as the student strength has dropped drastically.
Without handing over the textbooks to the students of biology and computer science groups, the school management has been forcing them to take up arts group, said a teacher from the school, requesting anonymity.
The strength of science group students has come down to just nine from more than 40 s until a couple of years ago after the introduction of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the teacher added.
Whenever the books are sought, the only answer from the principal is that they are planning to wind up the group, the teacher said and added that they were teaching the students with the soft copy of the books, which have been downloaded to mobile phones. “Apart from notes, the students have nothing to rely on,” the teacher added.
Only those students aspiring to become doctors and engineers have chosen the science group, the teacher said. The school offers six streams in science group.
Enrolment to all the six streams has come down this year. If the school decided to wind them up, students have to travel long distances to study in the government school at Karamadai or Velliankadu, the teacher added.
“Without taking up any private coaching, two students from the school have cracked the NEET,” the teacher said hinting indirectly that the decision to do away with the science group may hit the rural students very badly.
A source with the school management confirmed the move, saying they were forced to take such a step due to inadequate number of students.
Chief educational officer P Ayyanan, however, said the school management was only planning to merge the groups and not winding up the group. “Due to low enrolment, the school has sought to merge pure science and biology with mathematics group. And it was approved,” he said.