As student strength increases, Corpn earmarks Rs 200 crore for schools

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the students’ strength has increased by around 1,000 when compared to the academic year 2018-2019. “This means, around 5,500 new students have been admitted to the Corporation schools. More than 4,300 students, who wrote Class 12 exams, had passed out from the schools,” the official said.

The official expressed that the admissions would continue till August 31 and the strength is expected to increase by another 1,000. During the previous year, as many as 82,688 students studied in Chennai Corporation school.

The official claimed that the schools have managed to retain their strength due to door-to-door campaigns imploring parents to send children to Corporation schools. “We have issued pamphlets explaining the facilities provided in the schools. We identified five-year-old children while campaigning in slum areas and enrolled them by providing spot admission,” he added.

Explaining the measures to be taken to increase the admission during the next academic year, the official said that the civic body has constituted three committees to study the changes to be brought to the Corporation schools.

One of the three committees would access the present quality of education in schools and propose measures to upgrade education quality. “Infrastructure committee will propose changes pertaining to renovating school buildings and the curriculum committee will access changes in teaching methods,” the official explained.

Meanwhile, the civic body has earmarked Rs 200 Crore to renovate damaged buildings and upkeep school campuses. It is learnt that the officials have proposed to paint the school buildings apart from installing entrance gates and name boards.