How Coimbatore is making sure kids go #BacktoSchool

The fear that the COVID-19 pandemic might keep kids out of school is extremely real, and educational institutions, especially in the rural areas of the country seem to be aware of that fact.

Coimbatore school education department has asked the primary and middle school headmasters to ensure enrollment of students aged above five years in the schools for academic year 2021-22 through spot admission. In view of this, headmasters have been asked to go to the students' residents and check whether they enrolled for class I admission or not and if they did not enroll, headmasters or teachers are to conduct spot admission without fail. Chief Educational Officer M Ramakrishnan said, "Earlier, school headmasters have collected particulars of children aged above five years in the villages.. After beginning the admission process, a few students did not come to school to enroll. So, headmasters have been asked to go to their residents and enroll them without fail to ensure the admission of these students. If they enroll in school, we can provide free textbooks and other educational materials to them."

Teacher P Karuppusamy at the Somayampalayam Panchayat Union Primary School on outskirts of the city said, "Once public transport services resumed, students and their families have been returning to the city from their native villages. I have visited two places in KPK Nagar and Yamuna Nagar which are brick kilns and admitted two students on spot." According to the sources in the department, due to the COVID-19 pandemic many student families are yet to return to Coimbatore.