Eluru District Collector instructs officials to identify and admit school dropouts, particularly girls, by July 25

Eluru District Collector K. Vetriselvi has instructed officials from the Women Development and Child Welfare (WD&CW) and Education Departments to identify and admit school dropouts, particularly girl students, by July 25.

Joint teams comprising WD&CW District Project Director P. Sarada and District Educational Officer (DEO) M. Venkata Lakshmamma will conduct field visits and raids to locate out-of-school children and facilitate their re-admission in nearby schools.

In a recent video conference with officials, Ms. Vetriselvi emphasised the need to curb school dropouts and directed officers to submit resolutions confirming zero-dropout status at the village and mandal levels.

According to official estimates, there are around 3,590 school dropouts in Eluru district. The Collector instructed officers to ensure these children are brought back to school and to obtain signed resolutions from headmasters, village sarpanches, and Mandal Education Officers (MEOs) as proof.

ICDS officials from the WD&CW Department have also been directed to specifically monitor dropout cases among girls during their school visits. They are to verify whether girls who left higher classes have joined other schools, and to investigate if any of the dropouts were due to child marriages, employment, or other socio-economic reasons. “The officers must dig deeper into the reasons behind each dropout, especially in the case of girl children, and take necessary corrective steps,” said Ms. Vetriselvi.