By Avinash P. Subramanyam
Copyright deccanchronicle
TIRUPATI: Chittoor district has brought 1,997 dropout students back to schools over the past two months, following efforts by the education department and the district administration.Out of the 4,202 children identified as dropouts till July 2025, another 2,205 are yet to be re-enrolled. Officials have been asked to expedite the process. District Collector Sumit Kumar reviewed the progress with mandal education officers, headmasters etc on Wednesday. The meeting also discussed anemia-testing for adolescent girls, nutritional support, school hygiene, and implementation of the mid-day meal programme. The collector advised officials to meet parents of the remaining drop-outs and motivate them to send their wards back to school. He also stressed the need to track migration-related cases to ensure children are not deprived of education. For monitoring, one model school will be identified in each mandal to study how many students progress to the next class and examine the reasons behind dropouts or irregular attendance. The collector said quarterly anaemia tests will be conducted for adolescent girls and parents would be informed about the results. On improving nutrition and hygiene, the collector asked officials to strictly follow the government’s prescribed mid-day meal menu, including items such as ragi malt and chikki. Food must be cooked on gas stoves instead of firewood, he said, adding that the gas supply issues in schools would be resolved. Education additional director Sukumar, district school education APC Venkata Ramana Reddy, along with MEOs and HMs, participated in the meeting.
