City Corporation cracks the whip
By Asha P. Nair
24th April 2010 12:40 AM
Illustration: Vinod Chayam
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation has given a clear message to the umpteen schools under its wings: perform or perish. Gearing up for a new academic year, the Corporation has asked city schools to go in for an attitudinal change and be child-friendly so that divisions are increased and no school has empty classrooms.
There should be at least five new admissions in class I and class V, schools have been directed. A school squad, consisting of PTA members and teachers, must actively canvas for the school in the area, meet parents and boost admission numbers, they have been told. Pleasant behaviour towards students and parents must be practised and a positive ambience must prevail in school, the local body is learnt to have conveyed to the schools.
A meeting of the headmasters and teachers of 105 schools called by the local body the other day is learnt to have given strict instructions to school authorities to shake off laxity and engage in ways to market their school in the locale.
While some schools have been performing above expectations, certain schools have not yet waken from slumber despite regular scoldings from the local body. ‘‘We have been spending crores of amounts on the maintenance works and infrastructure development of schools. Last year, nearly Rs 3 crore had been spent on school development. But external beautification alone does not work. That’s why we have asked schools to intervene, intensify their activities and stop being aloof from the locals there,’’ said G.R. Anil, Chairman of the Education Standing Committee.
Many schools had shown drastic division fall last year. According to officials, there are LP schools with mere 17 students in the city. In some schools, no new admissions have happened for a couple of years now. The Corporation spends at least Rs 3 lakh on a school, whether it has high or less number of students.
It was as part of attracting new admissions that the local body had launched the idea of ‘model schools’ last year. The first experiment it did at Manacaud TTC school has reaped good results and the school has been registering record admissions this year. But it’s just not the way with many other schools. Even the breakfast scheme in schools had little effect in bringing up the divisions here.
‘‘The Corporation engages itself with the development of certain schools only. Even after repeated pleas, some of our demands are neglected. By shifting the onus of increasing the divisions to schools, it can’t stay away from its responsibilities,’’ said a headmaster to ‘Expresso’ on condition of anonymity.
However, Corporation officials clarified that no preference had been shown to any particular school and that some schools had shown the enthusiasm to grow while some hadn’t. And that had made all the difference, they said.
Meanwhile, the Corporation has asked all schools to call a meeting of PTA officials and take follow-up activities before the school re-opening.
asha.nair@expressbuzz.com
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