Absenteeism in public examinations has come down, says Minister Anbil Mahesh
Speaking to the reporters after a review meeting regarding the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS) in Pudukottai, he said that there has been a notable improvement in the last two years in reducing absenteeism in public exams and school dropouts. 'Efforts have been taken to make the absentees appear for supplementary exams and convince the parents of the dropouts to send their children back to school. We are keen on preventing students from leaving the education system.'
He added that block-level review has been conducted in the district, and the low-performing block has been instructed to improve its performance by next year.
When asked about the steps to improve infrastructure in government schools, Mr. Poyyamozhi said that the infrastructural needs, such as new classrooms, toilets, etc, in each school have been noted and would be fulfilled soon. So far, over 8,000 classrooms have been constructed in the State at a cost of ₹5,500 crore, he added.
Earlier, Mr. Poyyamozhi held a review meeting for the school heads of government and aided schools in Thanjavur. The School Education Department conducted the SLAS for students of classes III, V and IIIV in government and aided schools to identify learning gaps and plan academic interventions.
As many as 11,550 Class III students from 1,374 schools, 12,540 Class V students from 1,379 schools and 10,663 Class IIIV students from 548 schools took the exam, and the district secured 58.41 per cent in SLAS. Steps would be taken to carry out the survey and improve the learning ability in children, he added.
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