COIMBATORE: M Ragul (name changed), a Class 6 student from a government school near Saravanampatti lives with his uncle after he lost both his parents. In July 2022, when he was in Class 6, he refused to continue his studies and got hooked to his mobile phone. In March 2023, personnel attached to Saravanampatti police station met him in person and stressed the value of education and the necessity of continuing schooling.
"We suspected he was involved in some criminal activity when police landed at our doorstep unexpectedly. Later, we found out that they had come to persuade him to continue his studies. After the meeting, he started attending classes," Ragul's uncle said."When the police officers asked him what he wanted, Ragul said he wanted a remote-controlled car. The officers gifted it to him to encourage him to pursue his studies," he added.
In a similar incident, a Class 6 girl studying in a government school at Selvapuram took a month-long leave in February 2023 after she attained puberty and refused to continue her studies after that. Women police personnel convinced her to continue her studies, said her father, who works in the Ukkadam fish market.
Personnel from all 15 police stations in Coimbatore City have met 226 school drop-outs between March 1 and May 10. Juvenile Aid Police Unit (JAPU), the special unit that prevents crime against women and children and Law & Order units have taken coordinated action to help dropout students get back to schools.
"A survey of 286 government and private schools in the city revealed that 894 students had dropped out in the last one year. We met 226 students in the last two months and observed their reasons for leaving their studies. They were given counselling. After taking necessary steps, 91 students went back to schools and completed annual exams in April 2023," said M Vadivukkarasi, Inspector of AWPS (Central), who is in charge of special units JAPU, AHTU, CWC and Helpdesk.
"Of these, 12 students needed assistance for paying school fees and four expected medical assistance. We helped them through the Kavasam trust, which is a joint venture of the city police and industrialists to help crime victims," she said, adding preventing school dropouts help to prevent students from becoming taken to crime.
Similarly, city police have identified 702 differently-abled children and personnel met 316 of them in the last two months and inquired about their needs. Among them, 43 children sought assistance for school fees, five asked for medical assistance and the parents of two children demanded jobs. "Steps are being taken to provide this assistance," sources said.
City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan said, "We started this drive to identify vulnerable children in different categories, which includes children having abusive parents, school dropouts, differently-abled students and children who contacted the Childline 1098. We came to know that dropouts play a majority in criminal activities. Hence, we decided to prevent the practice of school dropouts by assisting them to continue their studies. We hope it will help not only them but the society as well."
M Prabhakaran, a Coimbatore-based child rights activist and former member of the district child welfare committee, said, "Usually, police don't cooperate while approaching children's issues. But it is great that the police have directly taken this initiative considering their education. As they have a separate unit to deal with children's issues, they are expected to have a good understanding of approaching them. On the other hand, having the police directly meet a student can instill in them a sense of fear and can make a stigma that what others will think. So to avoid that, it is still better to take this step with stakeholders departments and NGOs who work on child welfare."