Dropout rate among poor children is a big problem: Governor Bandaru Dattatraya
Hon’ble Governor inaugurates 3-day long 53rd annual conference of COBSE at Hotel Mount View, Chandigarh
-Hon’ble Governor bats for imparting education in mother language, imparting skill training and apprising students of ancient traditions and culture of the country
Chandigarh, August 28, 2024: Haryana Governor Shri Bandaru Dattatraya on Wednesday stressed the need for checking dropout rates among poor students enrolled in schools and batted for imparting education in mother languages, imparting skill training to students and apprising them of India’s vibrant ancient traditions and culture.
Governor Shri Dattatraya, who was speaking as the Chief Guest after inaugurating the 3-day long national conference of Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) here at Mount View Hotel, said: “High dropout rate among school children from poor communities such as SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities is a matter of concern for us. We need to work in this regard very seriously.”
“Once a student drops out from the school, he not only loses his self-confidence but also develops an inferiority complex, which hinders his future growth. As so many stakeholders are present here not only from across the country but also from some foreign boards, we need to devise a strategy to ensure that poor students do not drop themselves from schools,” he said.
Referring to the theme of the COBSE annual conference – ‘Competency Based Teaching and Assessment’ – which is being organized by the Board of School Education, Haryana (BSEH), Bhivani, Shri Dattatraya said that poor children go to the government schools. “On the basis of my 40 years of experience, I feel that our school education should be made stronger so that our children have a strong foundation.”
Talking about skill development and the importance of imparting education in mother languages, Shri Dattatraya said that the new National Education Policy-2020 is very particular about equipping our school children with skills, which will help them in getting gainful employment. “Similarly, we should make sure that the medium of education is the children’s mother language,” he said.
Stating that Haryana is going to be the first state in the country to implement majority of provisions of NEP-2020, Governor Shri Dattatraya said that efforts should also be made to apprise our children of India’s vibrant ancient traditions and cultural values. He said that in primary education, we should have more women teachers and other supporting staff.
Stressing the need for inculcating values among children through stories of great personalities like Napoleon Bonaparte who said there is no word like impossible in his dictionary, Shri Dattatraya said that our endeavours should be to make students self-confident so that they achieve the goals of their lives.
Shri Dattatraya also praised Dr VP Yadav, Chairman, BSEH, for doing a great job in transforming the state’s school education. He also appreciated COBSE for their efforts in promoting the best practices in school education through different boards in the country. Governor Shri Dattatraya along with other dignitaries on the dais also released the special edition of Sahodaya, a booklet titled ‘COBSE through Decade’ and the telephone directory of COBSE.
Earlier Dr Yadav, in his welcome address, gave an overview of the functioning of BSEH, stating that: “We are in the forefront of implementing NEP-2020. There are many milestones to our credit. We have the best infrastructure in the country.” COBSE chief Mrs Asano Sekhose, also the Chairperson of Nagaland Board, in her keynote address, briefed the audience about various initiatives of COBSE aimed at audit certificates, reforming exams and developing curriculum. Shri MC Sharma, General Secretary, COBSE, proposed the vote of thanks.
