Mumbai: Budget schools raise alarm over record no. of kids dropping out

City civic schools say making ends meet would trump getting smartphones for online class. File pic

The principal of a budget school from Malad dreads a postman as mail nowadays mostly brings parents' letters asking for a leaving certificate. At a budget English-medium school in Makhurd, authorities were shocked when a school from Osmanabad called them asking for a student's leaving certificate. Such calls have now become routine for the schools. There is a similar trend in city municipal schools, too, which are worried about the alarming rate at which students are dropping out.

With the reopening of schools put on hold yet again, worries of survival have increased manifold. Teaching and learning online has not been taking place in full capacity at these schools due to various reasons, the most common being lack of technological support. For budget schools catering to the lower and lower-middle class, their struggle is to ensure survival.

"If a parent says that they can't afford to respond to teachers' calls for remote learning, what more can you argue say? Especially when you know their situation. Paying Rs 500 school fee for them is a luxury in these tough times as that money can help them survive for a few days. After all this, if the family continues to stay in the city, the child has chances of returning to school when they reopen. But most people have migrated to their villages," said Ashirwad Lokhande, principal of Sailee School in Borivli, an English-medium budget school that caters to children from slum pockets.

Threat of job loss
The school's 15 per cent students have sought a leaving certificate. According to Lokhande, this number did not cross five per cent in the past. Life in the villages is affordable and schools there have reopened. "We have been continuously getting calls from schools in rural Maharashtra, asking for students' documents. While most are preferring Zilla Parishad schools in villages, budget English-medium schools, too, are available, at much lesser fees," said a teacher from a school in Mankhurd, adding that this may result in surplus teachers and then loss of jobs.

"We will take a tough stand if the government plans a sancha-manyata (calculating student-teacher ratio) in civic schools. We are worried about next year, too. Will these students return? So far, the issue was seen in Std IX and X. But with classes started for Std V to VIII, these students might leave too," said Prashant Redij, principal, Hilda Castelino Marathi High School, Malad. The school is receiving three requests for leaving certificates per week on average this year. "Students of SSC can't even afford to enrol for coaching classes in the city. So there's no reason for them to stay, when schools are available in villages," added Redij.

"Of the many families who migrated, only their fathers, that is breadwinners, have returned to work in the city. Until they can afford to rent a house again, the families will stay in the villages. When survival is the question, there is no room for children to have smartphones to learn on, irrespective of teachers' efforts," said a BMC school's principal from South Mumbai, where 15 students have obtained leaving certificates.

15%
Proportion of students at Borivli's Sailee School who have sought a leaving certificate