Representational imageThiruvananthapuram: An increasing number of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes students are dropping out of schools.
During the previous academic year, as many as 1,590 pupils belonging to scheduled castes and 2,385 scheduled tribe students—studying in Classes five to 10—dropped out of schools.
So far this year, 127 students, belonging to these categories have dropped out.
Idukki and Wayanad districts recorded the most number of dropouts. The state has 6,35,373 scheduled caste and 83,149 scheduled tribe students.
According to the Department of Education, domestic issues have forced students to dropout. The parents’ lack of interest in providing education, too, has been cited as a reason.
Additionally, the department also found that the social environment in SC/ST colonies and the alienation—both social and linguistic—the students face in schools have also spiked the dropout rate.
Authorities said parents’ usually preferred their wards to attend to the farms rather than sending them to schools during harvest seasons.
The departments of education and scheduled caste and scheduled tribes development said efforts were on to conduct a detailed study into the reasons that led students to skip schools.
Experts, however, blamed inadequate planning for the increasing dropout rate, despite the state having enough funds running into crores of rupees.
Schools lacked adequate infrastructure and efforts to provide infrastructure facilities in the state’s 19 Model Residential Schools were yet to gain pace, they pointed out.
