Representational file picture
| Photo Credit: A.M. FARUQUI
The point out of Chitrakoot district in Bundelkhand conjures up pictures of poverty and drought, however final month, it was one of the 2 districts to obtain accolades for implementing Samagra Shiksha, a scheme floated by the Ministry of Education with an emphasis on holistic training for college children. Chitrakoot stood out as one of the 2 greatest districts from practically 1,200 purposes obtained throughout classes for the Prime Minister’s Excellence Awards in Public Administration.
Abhishek Anand (32), an IAS officer of the 2014 batch and the present District Magistrate (DM) of Chitrakoot advised The Hindu {that a} crew of 900 authorities officers had labored extraordinarily laborious over the previous yr to provide Chitrakoot’s authorities schools an enormous facelift.
“As a result, enrolment in 1,256 government schools for Class 1 to 8 increased by 10% from 1.48 lakh in March 2022 to 1.61 lakh in March 2023. What is more heartening is that 60% of the increased pool were girl students,” he mentioned.
When Mr. Anand joined his new posting as Chitrakoot’s DM final yr, he began focussing on college upgradation by means of parameters like infrastructure, the introduction of good courses, tapping drop-outs, inclusive training for folks with disabilities and involving local people in the method.
Nearly ₹87 crore was spent on Mission Mode, over and above finances for 380 schools, to assemble bogs and ensure they’ve clear working water. Drinking water coolers had been additionally put in. School boundary partitions had been secured in 480 schools and electrical connection for followers and light-weight bulbs was ensured in 110 schools, Mr. Anand listed.
In his earlier stint because the Municipal Commissioner of Bareilly, Mr. Anand had labored on putting in 80 good lecture rooms, an expertise that got here in helpful in Chitrakoot. Of the 1,256 schools, 280 schools had been geared up with good courses that had TVs and projectors with pre-loaded content material and studying materials, as Internet connectivity is usually poor and streaming of content material might be sluggish. Another ₹5 crore was spent on smartclasses.
The outcomes of this facelift have been heartening. Walls had been painted in shiny colors, a children’s library was geared up with a mess of books, indoor video games like carrom board and hula-hoop rings, projectors and TVs ensured that children study in an interactive method.
“Smartclasses are a major change in the way students receive education. Seeing animations, quizzes and maps help students grasp content better, so much so that schools with smartclasses saw more enrolment and kids were so attached to schools that they did not want to go back home,” Mr. Anand mentioned.
Noticing that children of seasonal migrants used to drop out of college, he organised the idea of Maa Samuh or Mothers’ Meetings the place lecturers and principals would meet the migrant mother and father each fortnight to encourage them to re-enroll their children. “2,700 children who had dropped out, joined back,” he mentioned.
With Samagra Shiksha focussing on inclusive training, Mr. Anand mentioned they recognized 67 children who had disabilities, together with cerebral palsy, and allotted 13 particular educators to go to their properties to take courses.
By July, the district is aiming to improve 550 extra schools with smartclasses, which can cowl 75% of the schools, he mentioned. “While NITI Aayog is funding this upgradation for 150 schools, we are getting CSR funds from Shiv Nagar Foundation, ICICI Foundation and Sampark Foundation for the rest,” he added.
The district officers initially confronted lots of resistance from Panchayats and Gram Pradhans or village heads once they proposed upgradation. “Putting funds in schools meant they would not get to spend it elsewhere and initially there was a lot of resistance. But we showed them photos of good schools, and held workshops to ensure participation,” he mentioned.
Another huge problem was tackling instructor absenteeism, as the gap between schools in Bundelkhand was giant and instructor attendance was a difficulty. “We set up a control room in district headquarters and would call fifty randomised phone numbers for teachers every day to verify if the teachers are present in allotted schools. If teachers were absent without information, then we would take penal action. This led to compliance,” he defined.
