Notices issued to 996 headmasters for low student attendance at primary schools

Show cause notices have been issued to headmasters and headmasters in-charge for less than 65% attendance of students in their respective institutions on the basis of mid-day-meal consumption data of July 2024 in 996 government-run primary (up to class 5), upper primary (classes 5 to 8) and composite schools (classes 1 to 8) of Prayagraj district.

In the notice issued on Tuesday by Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA)-Prayagraj Praveen Kumar Tiwari, all the staff working in the schools concerned have been instructed to provide clarification through the block education officer within three days for the low attendance of enrolled students in their institutions. Departmental action will be taken if proper clarification is not received, the notice clarifies.

According to the BSA, the Director General of School Education has issued instructions to improve the learning and teaching standards by running a special campaign to increase the attendance of enrolled students. Daily attendance of students in schools is being reviewed through the Darpan, a dashboard for analytical review of projects across nation, transforming complex government data into compelling visuals.

Expressing displeasure over the low attendance, the Government of India, State Project Office, Mid Day Meal Authority and district administration have given instructions to increase the attendance percentage and inform them by taking appropriate action against the guilty, he said.

The BSA made clear that information regarding redressal of issues like the need for changing the mobile number registered for mid-day meal related information on the IVRS system, not receiving calls, registering of the count of beneficiaries, change in enrollment numbers, registering student enrollment on the portal, resolving the problem related to separate calls of primary and upper primary levels in composite schools and other work from the school level itself through the toll free numbers 522-3538777 and 1800-1800-666 has already been given. Therefore, clarification related to the discrepancies of the portal will not be accepted as an excuse from the headmasters, the BSA said.

Among the development blocks of the district to which notices have been issued by the BSA for less than 65% attendance of students, the highest number of 90 schools are from Karachhana followed by 89 schools of Phulpur, 87 of Koraon, 72 of Bahadurpur and 59 schools of Baharia.