TIRUCHY: Following the death of a student in a school building-related incident in Thiruvallur district, School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Wednesday said accountability would be fixed and corrective measures taken after a detailed inquiry.
Addressing mediapersons in Tiruchy, the Minister said the school building involved in the incident was constructed using NABARD funds in 2014–15 at a site that was later found to be unsafe. “Those responsible for approving and executing the construction must be held accountable. An FIR has been registered and a proper inquiry is under way,” he said.
He noted that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had announced an ex gratia of Rs 3 lakh to the victim’s family, while emphasising that compensation could not undo the loss. “We will address all legitimate requests of the family and extend continued support for the education of the child’s sibling,” Anbil Mahesh said.
Responding to BJP State president K. Annamalai’s criticism of Tamil Nadu’s education system, the Minister rejected claims that its success was illusory. “Whether one calls it an illusion or not, the outcomes are proven facts. Our systems and results speak for themselves,” he said.
Highlighting student retention measures, he said teachers were mandated to track absentees and bring children back to school without any cut-off period, adding that school-level dropouts were effectively zero at the elementary level.
He acknowledged that the high school dropout rate stood at 7.7 per cent, significantly lower than the national average of 14.7 per cent, and said efforts were under way to reduce the figure further.