DANTEWADA: Students in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada, a district long besieged by Maoists, have proven the phrase 'nothing succeeds like success' true with their incredible performance in this year's board examinations.
Dantewada topped the state in Class 10 board exams this year with an impressive 94.45 overall pass percentage. Interestingly, state capital Raipur ranked 32 among all districts with 66.24 pass percentage. Dantewada ranked 6 in Class 12 exams.
A short while ago, the district remained among the bottom five in terms of board exam results. Where fear ruled the forested terrain, academic failure was yet another worry.
Dantewada collector Kunal Dudawat told TNIE that major issues such as the lack of teachers, poor attendance, no tracking of student performance, no preparation for exams and evaluation were addressed.
"Several smart and focused strategies were adopted to improve school education," he added.
The community, schools and administration have worked together to script the story of success. The magnificent results reflect not only the hard work of students, but the consistent coordinated efforts of teachers, principals, education department and the district administration.
‘Potacabin’ schools, ‘Choo Lo Aasman’, Jawanga education city met the vision of local educational needs.
"The Maoists didn't want young people to get enrolled in schools as they feared that education might challenge their ideology and existence. So, as soon as children entered teenage years, pressure started building on them and their families to join the movement. Gradually the conflict-ridden Bastar zone strategically countered the barriers created by Maoists, beat the odds, won people’s trust," said Bastar IGP Sundarraj P.
Last year, Dantewada stood at 8th position with 85.13% in Class 10 results. In Class 12, the district climbed from 11th to 6th position, with 87.66% pass percentage.
Officials associated with the school education department shared that there were regular monthly tests, teachers worked together to create high-quality papers, fair evaluation of answer sheets, tracking every student’s progress, extra-support and workshops for students among other effective practices keenly followed across the district.
Every quarter of the year, review meetings are held to discuss performance of students, schools and quality of teaching.
Parents in Dantewada now realise the value of education. UNICEF and Bachpan Banao conducted sessions on mental health, reading skills, and motivation.
Irregular or drop-outs were checked by village-based Bal-mitras (education workers). Shiksha Samarthan, in which graduate youths were appointed as guest teachers to mitigate the shortage of teachers.