MP: Hostel heads to pay for poor performance of tribal students

The Tribal Welfare Department in Betul will hold hostel superintendents responsible for the performance of their wards to check the growing number of tribal students failing in secondary and higher secondary school examinations.

The department has also decided to realise the money spent by the government on the students that fail from the hostel superintendents.

The recent move of the district administration comes as each year fewer tribal students are able to clear the school exams.

In 2012-13, the pass percentage in the secondary school examination was 69%, while in 2013-14 and 2014-15 it was 44% and 35% respectively. The pass percentage in higher secondary school examination was 83% in 2012-13, while it was 68% in 2013-14 and it was 49% in 2014-15.

“There are 120 tribal hostels in Betul district, including 13 excellence hostels that accommodate about 7,000 students from Class 6 to 12. And, in all the hostels, the students are given admission on merit. The declining passing percentage raises a serious question that if the students are admitted on merit then why was their performance poor in the examinations,” said Rajesh Singh Parihar, assistant director, tribal welfare department. “We have thus decided to hold the superintendents of the hostels responsible for their poor performance as they are the ones who can regularly monitor them in the hostel,” he added.

Every student in the tribal hostels is given a stipend of `1000 per month. In excellence hostels, where only those that achieve distinction results are admitted, the students get an additional `2000 per year for stationery and coaching facility.

“The administration spends a considerable amount of money on the education of the students in these hostels. We will calculate the average amount spent on each student in the hostel and if any of the students fails in the examinations, that amount will be recovered from the superintendent of the hostel,” said Parihar.

The administration has also started monitoring the classes conducted for the students after their regular school hours through WhatsApp. “We have asked all the teachers to upload the picture of the students in the classroom...so that we know that the classes are being actually conducted. Also, sometimes in order to confirm, we ask the students on the phone whether the classes are being actually taken or not,” collector Gyaneshwar B Patil told HT.

“The district administration is really serious about the performance of the students in the examinations. Our main focus is on the performance of the students in secondary school examinations, because the highest drop-out percentage is in that class only. If a student fails in the secondary school examinations then the chances are high that he will quit his school education,” added Patil.