More than 500 tribal students who were largely promoted to Class 10 board in tribal-dominated Dang district are struggling to get admission in Class 11, many schools are yet to have new classes and existing ones are bursting at the seams.
District education officials have already transferred files to increase classes in government schools and have asked other schools in the district to increase the number of classes. However, education officials fear that the pullout of high schools could increase the dropout ratio in the district.
According to Dang District Education Inspector Vijay Deshmukh, “In 2019-20, 26.43 per cent students dropped out of school after class 10, of which 24.96 per cent were girls and 27.91 per cent boys. Similarly, the drop out ratio in 2021-21 was 17.55 per cent, with 17.19 girls and 17.91 boys. This year the figures may increase due to lack of classes.
Deshmukh said the DEO had sent a proposal to the state education department to increase eight classes in eight government schools in Dang. “We are waiting for a response from the government. Once we get the clearance, we will start the activities and there will be no issue of admission in class 11 in the coming days,” Deshmukh said.
As per the details received from the District Education Office (DEO) in Dang, this year a total of 3,909 students have been promoted due to promotion. global pandemic, 3,255 have got admission. In the last academic year, 67 per cent students passed in the district and 65 per cent before that. Schools now not only have to accommodate their students of class 10th, but also make room for freshmen, and in the process those who have passed with lesser marks are left out.
The Sunday Express spoke to some students, who said that if they do not get admission this year, they will take a year’s break to help their parents and boost the family’s income.
Urmila Thackeray, 16, from Shamghan village in Ahwa taluka of Dang district, and her 25 batchmates are struggling to get admission in Janta High School, a grant-in-aid school in their village. It is the only high school for the 10 villages around Shamghan. Apart from Urmila, there are more than 25 students who are facing similar difficulties for admission in class 11.
“My earlier school was in nearby Badripada village which has only classes till 10th and this year I wanted to take admission in Janta High School, Shamgham. I have got 40 percent marks in my class 10 board. When we went to take admission the principal Manubhai Gavit said that their seats are full as they have taken all their students. We went to the office of the District Education Department and told them about the issue of admission, we were told to go back to Janta High School and fill the admission form and wait for a few days. “
Urmila Shankar is the eldest of Thackeray’s three children, who work in the agricultural fields with wife Kavita to support the family. Urmila wants to become a teacher and helps her parents financially and also wants to teach her younger brother and sister. “If we don’t get admission then we will wait for a year, and next year we will try for re-admission to continue further studies. During this one year, I will also go to agriculture fields and visit my mother. I will work with my father, ”says Urmila.
Ravi Choudhary, a resident of village Badripada, secured 42 percent marks in class 10th. Chowdhary first applied in commerce and applied to arts faculty when denied admission and was told that there are no vacancies in Janata school. Other schools are far away from the village and there is no means of transport as Dang has a mountainous area. Ravi’s father Ramesh Choudhary feels that his dream of seeing his son get a government job will be shattered.
“I have not studied in any school in my life and I wanted my son Ravi and daughter Sangeeta to get a good education and later get a good job and settle down. I have limited source of income and cannot send my son to neighboring districts as I cannot afford school fees and accommodation in other districts. We also spoke to some teachers in our family and they told me that there is a problem in admission this year. On his advice, we will take a one-year break this year, and try again next year,” says Ramesh.
There are a total of 29 high schools in Dang district, of which 13 schools are grant-in-aid, 13 government schools and 3 self-financed schools. There are total 37 classes out of which 9 are for Science stream, 24 are for Commerce stream and rest are for Arts stream.
Manubhai Gavit, principal of Janta High School, said, “There is a commerce class in class 11 where we have admitted 75 students. DEO Dang told us to start new classes of 11th. I told him I didn’t have extra class or space. Last year there were 50 students in my 11th class. This year, due to massive promotions, we have been asked to induct 75 students. We have limited number of benches, how can we accommodate the students in the classrooms? We have neither money to buy benches nor to build additional classrooms.
Dang DEO Manilal Bhusara said, “After coming to the issue of admission, we have asked the schools to increase the classes and classroom strength to accommodate more and more students. We have applied for nine new classes in the existing government high schools in Dang.”
Congress MLA from Vansda seat bordering Dang, Anant Patel said, “We have started receiving complaints from the people of Dang about not getting admission in class 11. We are currently taking details of how many students were affected.” And once we get the data, we will make representations to the DEO and the District Collector and request them to make arrangements for the admission of tribal students.”
Dhanesh Gaikwad, principal of Saputara School, said, “We have two classes for commerce and one class for science. We have admitted 92 students in class 11 commerce and on provisional basis we have started class. We don’t have benches and other facilities, how can we accommodate students? “
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