THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government will initiate a ‘community development programme’ at schools in tribal areas of the state to prevent students from dropping out, SC/ST Welfare Minister K Radhakrishnan said in the assembly on Tuesday. The government will seek cooperation of the respective local bodies, elected representatives and SC/ST promoters to reach out to the tribal families and to bring the dropped-out students back to schools.
“In 2020-21, 18,000 SC students dropped out from schools. Out of this, 85% were brought back,” he said. A special training programme (remedial course) was conducted for the children of the SC category who did not pass engineering but the figures indicate that it is not effective. The department is providing facilities for 175 students belonging to the SC/ST category to pursue higher education in foreign universities.