Following the decline in Covid cases, the Tamil Nadu State Higher Education Department will undertake a detailed survey across the state to examine the number of students leaving out of colleges after the reopening on September 1.
“The administration is concerned,” a senior bureaucrat told IANS, “after reports emerged from several colleges that a substantial number of students had stopped attending courses since the state’s institutions reopened on September 1 following the drop in Covid-19 cases.” This is concerning, and the higher education department is undertaking a thorough and scientific investigation into the cause of the decline.”
The state’s higher education department has received evidence from several districts that there is a decrease in college students. Most students who are missing courses support their families by working on farms or performing odd jobs to make ends meet.
“We undertook a short survey after the colleges reopened in the state from September 1 and discovered that there is a decline in the number of students arriving in the classrooms,” Sudheendran Krishnan, Chairman, Institute of Research and Studies, an education NGO located in Chennai, told IANS. In the colleges where we did our research in Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu, at least 15 to 20% of students do not attend lessons.
“The situation in the state’s rural districts will be worrying, and the higher education department will need to undertake research and obtain a proper scientific report on it.”
According to sources in the Higher Education Department, a well-known market research firm has been hired to conduct the survey, conducted simultaneously in all districts. According to officials from the higher education ministry, the survey’s dates will be finalized in a few days.
