The Maharashtra government is turning on ‘selfie-mode’ to keep children in schools.
To check dropout rates, state-run schools would require teachers to take attendance selfies of students starting next year, according to the Hindustan Times.
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Every selfie would have 10 children and be uploaded, along with the names of the students and their Aadhaar numbers, to the SARAL system that hosts Maharashtra government’s education database. The move is aimed at creating a record of the students who are not regular at school, a government resolution released by the State Education Ministry, said.
School teachers will also have to share details of the students who are irregular with the higher authorities in the education department. With the help of this information, the government will take policy decisions to reel those students back into the education system.
The dropout rate in Maharashtra is around 9%, lower than the national average of 15%, but the number of students who are dropping out is rising in the state.
The state’s education department also identified major reasons why children’s education is disrupted – migration of families within the state and to the state.
Families planning to move within the state have been asked to ensure that their school-going children continue their education. In case the children have to migrate to other states the government recommends issuing ‘Education Guarantee Cards’ to the students. These can be shared with the new school administrations where the children will be enrolled through Whatsapp.
Find the Maharashtra government student database here.
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