The count of government higher secondary schools increased to 208 in the district with six government high schools getting upgraded as higher secondary schools this year.
The upgraded schools were at Poondi near Wallajah, Periyakannalampatti near Tirupattur, Vakkanampatti near Jolarpet, Guppinapettai near Sholinghur, Gudiyattam (Railway station) and Ramanaickanpettai near Kanidili. Four of the schools are within the Tirupattur educational district while the rest are in the Vellore educational district.
“The main criteria for the upgradation were student population, accessibility and the count of private and aided schools in the vicinity,” said Pon Kumar, chief educational officer.
“The focus is to bring maximum number of students in the government schools,” he said
The six join over 100 schools that have been upgraded across the state this year, with another 23 schools from the district awaiting upgradation. All the upgraded schools were in the rural areas, situated on the peripheries of towns that are mostly dominated by aided and private schools.
Moreover, these schools had achieved a pass percentage of 70 to 80 per cent in the recently held X board examination. These schools, dominated by girls, would be admitting over 50 students for Plus One. Science and Commerce groups have been allowed in these schools.
“Upgradation of these schools would help in retaining the students who, otherwise, migrate to the nearby private schools,” said the education officer.
The upgraded schools would get an additional nine teachers each, who would be appointed shortly to teach languages, maths, physics, chemistry, economics and commerce.
Also, additional infrastructure facilities, such as laboratories and classrooms, would be added to these schools.