It's not every day that you get to see a municipal commissioner himself standing at the gates of schools to welcome and guide students. On Thursday, Mira Bhayandar Municipal Commissioner (MBMC) Dilip Dhole played the role of a host and teacher to perfection at some of the civic-run schools to mark the beginning of the new academic session. As a part of Pravesh-Utsav (school opening festival), Dhole and other senior officials including city engineer Deepak Khambit and education officer Sonali Matekar welcomed students back with red roses as they stepped into the school premises.
While the schools were decorated with balloons and flowers, music bands had also been roped in to give a pleasant surprise to students who were handed over their education kit comprising uniforms, shoes, books and bags in the first phase. The distribution will continue in the coming days.
New dress code for students
The MBMC has introduced a new dress code for their students this year which according to officials is at par with private education institutes in the twin-city. The excitement of meeting classmates, getting new uniforms and the first day celebrations was clearly visible on the faces of students.
At present, there are 36 municipal schools which impart education in Marathi, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and semi-English mode to students who mostly come from a poor economic background. From 10,500 students in 2019 to 6,429 students in 2021, the municipal-run schools registered a steep downward trend of more than 35% in the past three years, with a worrisome rise in the number of drop-outs every year.
However, consistent efforts like fine tuning modalities to introduce new features like e-learning and digital classrooms, the numbers rose to 8,025 in 2022 from 7,248 in 2022. With around 1,000 fresh enrolments, the number of students has crossed the 9,000 mark this year.
