The term ‘school dropout’ was ubiquitous in Bangarupalem mandal at the tail-end of Chittoor district, which is flanked by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
But a group of NGOs working on issues of child rights in the western mandals of Andhra Pradesh has turned the tide and convinced as many as 20 dropouts, including 10 girls, of three villages, to return to school. The effort was sparked off in the last week of December when the headmistress of the Zilla Parishad High School at Thambuganipalli village spoke to some voluntary organizations about five students, including three girls, who had stopped attending school over the past couple of months.
The Rural Organisation for Poverty Eradication Services (ROPES), Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) and Child Line 1098 launched combined efforts to end the problem of dropouts in the mandal, with its population consisting largely of deprived sections, who work as farm labour.
In an intensive drive over the last 20 days, volunteers visited Thambuganipalle, Moghilivaripalle and Jayanthi villages to trace the dropouts and convince their parents to send them back to school.
Their mission to trace the five children from the ZP High School led to the detection of as many as 20 dropouts from these three villages alone.
Dalit students
A majority of the dropouts belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, with their parents working as farm workers or at odd jobs.
A school teacher said some of the children who had dropped out would come to school only for the midday meal, and return without wanting to attend classes.
The volunteers said they had studied the various reasons that led to the students quitting studies.
The children will return to school from Monday, when the schools reopen after Sankranti vacation.