MADURAI: Even as private institutions are spending lakhs of rupees on advertisements to attract new students, corporation schools here in Madurai quietly achieved a significant spike in admissions this academic year mostly through word of mouth.
According to data from the civic body's educational wing, over 6,000 students were admitted to 64 corporation schools since August 17. This includes 26 primary schools, 14 middle schools, 9 high schools, and 15 higher secondary schools. When The New Indian Express contacted teachers of various corporation schools, it was revealed that more than one aspect contributed to this development.
Efforts to clamp down on dropout rates
While it is evident that the economic impact of the lockdown induced by COVID-19 played an important role, the teachers here have more to say about it. Speaking to The New Indian Express, the Headmaster of Velliveethiyar Corporation Higher Secondary School, M Ayyer, said that the major challenge for teachers of corporation schools this year was preventing dropouts, not new admissions.
Their efforts to ensure that families of students from economically weak backgrounds never went short of food supplies helped them achieve this goal. "This timely intervention gave a sense of social security to parents and stopped students from dropping out. It also resulted in new admissions," he said.
Extra-curricular activities
"We give equal importance to extra-curricular activities as academics. With the aid of HCL Foundation, robotics labs were installed in 17 corporation schools. Even during the lockdown period, online robotics classes were held in two sessions from Monday to Friday," said R Murugeswari, HM of Kasthuribai Gandhi Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School.
Through various initiatives like 'children's parliament' (wherein a council of ministry is formed with student representatives), roof gardening (a garden completely maintained by students) and self-defence classes, students are sensitised on politics, agriculture and sports.
"When students return home with a smile on their faces, parents spread the quality of education in our schools through word of mouth, resulting in new admissions," she said, adding that parents of the newly admitted children were astonished to find that the infrastructure in corporation schools were on a par with that in private schools.
Mental wellbeing
Mental health of students is yet another key aspect in corporation schools. Happy Schooling, a joint initiative by the MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation, HCL Foundation and the Madurai Corporation to promote emotional well-being and academic excellence in the schools run by the corporation, contributed to the significant spike in admissions, said Corporation Educational Officer P Vijaya.
Since the implementation of Happy Schooling in 15 higher secondary schools and nine high schools, there has been not a single case of a student attempting suicide owing to exam pressure in the past two years, said Project Director of Happy Schooling S Selvamani.
Many career paths
"Further, unlike private schools, which have only a few major groups for higher secondary (biology with maths, pure science, computer science, and arts), we have around ten general groups with combinations of different disciplines, including rare ones like Indian culture, agriculture, mechanics, and vocational groups with type writing. We also have teachers with a minimum experience of 15 years," said the Educational Officer.
Exclusive guidance for students appearing for exams like NEET and their parents is also provided. Further, there has been a tremendous change in the interpersonal relationship between students and teachers, added Selvamani.
Corporation Commissioner S Visakan said that the students were also provided with career guidance, a healthy environment and personal recommendations from teachers for higher studies. He also lauded the efforts of corporation school teachers and thanked the HCL Foundation and MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation for their contributions.