Education department initiates efforts to boost student admissions

MP, 16 Dec 2024, Kolkata: The state School Education department has initiated efforts to boost student admissions and enrollment in state-run schools ahead of the 2025 academic year, which is set to commence on January 1. 

Concerns have arisen over a significant decline in student numbers at many schools, including several in Kolkata. To address this issue, the department has urged District Inspectors of Schools (DIs) to mobilise all stakeholders, including teachers, non-teaching staff, parents, alumni and local community members, to actively promote school enrollment. 

Subsequently, the DIs have requested the head of the institutions to take proactive steps towards this goal. 

Schools themselves have been taking initiatives to attract students. However, teachers have also highlighted infrastructure deficiencies and a shortage of teaching staff as factors contributing to the decline in enrollment. 

Debasish Ghosh, teacher-in-charge of Belgachia Shilpakala Sikshamandir Boys’ High School, revealed that the school’s enrollment has plummeted from 150-170 students in 2004 to a mere 20 students post-pandemic. 

Similarly, Mitthu Biswas Panda, teacher-in-charge of Narkeldanga Girls’ High School near Maniktala, reported a similar decline. Despite being a higher secondary institution, the school’s enrollment has dropped from 500 to only 50 students. 

Panda attributed the decline to financial hardships faced by families in the aftermath of the pandemic, as well as the growing preference for nearby schools. 

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