From 10,500 students in 2019 to 7,248 students in 2021, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC)-run schools have been registering a steep downward trend of more than around 35 per cent in the past three years coupled with a worrisome rise in the number of dropouts.
To counter the situation, the MBMC had roped in civic school teachers to conduct an intensive door-to-door survey and identify out-of-school children and bring them into the formal education system.
Their efforts seemed to have paid off. This year, the MBMC’s education department witnessed a decent jump in enrollments for the new academic session. With more than 750 new enrollments, the total number of school students has crossed the 8,000 mark.
Meanwhile, municipal schools across the twin-city resumed physical sessions for classes I to VII on Wednesday. Mayor Jyotsna Hasnale, commissioner Dilip Dhole, deputy commissioner Ajit Muthe and education-in-charge Sanjay Donde visited some schools and welcomed the tiny tots.
“We welcome and wish all the best to students. We will take care that students get a safe atmosphere to study and play,” said Dhole.
At present, there are 36 municipal schools which impart education in Marathi, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and semi-English modes to students who mostly come from poor economic backgrounds.
The education department claims that it would soon introduce smart schools, scholarship schemes, and special English language coaching in the new academic session.
However, the overall academic scenario continues to paint a grim picture, as most of the ambitious projects have remained only on paper.
