Porvorim: Students leaving Goa’s government schools are increasingly opting for vocational and job-oriented alternatives such as ITIs, private courses and employment in the IT, hotel and tourism sectors, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the Goa Legislative Assembly on Monday.
Replying to an unstarred question by Independent MLA Antonio Vas during the ongoing Assembly session on the dropout rate in government schools, Sawant, who also holds the Education portfolio, said data from UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) and other sources showed that students leaving government schools were pursuing different educational and employment options.
“Students have joined ITIs, appeared as private candidates for the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education examinations, or enrolled in private job-oriented courses in the IT, hotel and tourism sectors,” he said.
The government, meanwhile, has initiated several measures to prevent students from dropping out of schools and to improve their academic performance, the Chief Minister said.
A Learning Enhancement Programme has been introduced in all government schools, while the Vidya Samiksha Kendra and the SamarthX e-Governance portal have been made functional to regularly track students’ attendance and academic performance and identify those at risk of dropping out.
Regular assessments are also being conducted under PARAKH to monitor academic performance and identify probable dropouts, he said.
The government is also equipping government schools with digital infrastructure, including smart boards and wired internet facilities, to make the teaching-learning process more student-oriented.
Under the PM SHRI scheme, 28 government schools are being developed as exemplar schools in the state.
Sawant said skill-based subjects had also been introduced under the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) to attract students towards vocational education and improve their career and employment opportunities.
These practical-oriented subjects would provide academically weaker students with greater opportunities to progress to higher grades while offering alternatives to comparatively difficult subjects such as Mathematics and Science, he said.
The government is also providing quality breakfast to students under the PM Poshan scheme and has implemented the Mukhyamantri Dnyanparva Yojana to provide additional teachers for performing arts and pre-primary and primary sections.
On the number of government schools and the strength of students and teaching staff in the Cortalim Assembly constituency, the government said constituency-wise data was not maintained.
The Education Department similarly did not maintain constituency-wise, school-level details sought by the MLA, the reply said.
