Music bands to woo kids to schools

Rajasthan launches a drive to woo children, including door-to-door visits by school officials accompanied by music bands.

Rajasthan, which has a high school dropout rate, is launching a drive to woo children, including door-to-door visits by school officials accompanied by music bands.

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The new academic session beginning April 17 in all government and aided schools and affiliated private schools would be marked with celebrations to welcome new students to school.

During the April 17-May 2 programme, students and teachers will visit homes to urge parents to send children to school. This would be accompanied by music band performances.

The exercise is part of the child tracking system, which aims to bring children in the 6-14 age group to school. The state, which has a dropout rate of 23 per cent, has fixed a target of 80,000 new admissions in the academic session.

The new admissions would be welcomed in a traditional manner by smearing a tilak on their foreheads. The schools would honour the parents who send their children to school.

There will also be cultural events, children's fairs and sports meets in the rural areas. The new students would also be taken to tourist places in their respective areas.

Special arrangements are being made for teachers to meet those parents who are not sending their children to school to try and convince them.