CHENNAI: School education secretary J Kumaragurbaran in a letter to all district collectors has asked them to provide instructions to ensure that there is coordination between Integrated Child Development Project officials and school education department officials so that all children who complete preschool education in anganwadi centres are enrolled in government primary and middle schools.
He also urged them to ensure all arrangements are made for conducting rallies to spread awareness about schemes implemented in government schools. Enrolment in government schools should go up significantly this year, he said, urging them to include the enrolment of students in their inspection routine.
The state education department said there are 3.31 lakh children who have reached the age of five in the state and asked the teachers to enrol them in government primary and middle schools. The elementary education department has allocated Rs 2,000 each for primary and middle schools to conduct awareness campaigns about facilities available at government schools. Teachers across all schools have been instructed to promote new initiatives such as smart classrooms in primary schools and hi-tech labs in middle schools to encourage enrolment.