CHENNAI: Chief Secretary N Muruganandam has ordered all district collectors to work with various departments under the Naan Mudhalvan - Uyarvukku Padi 2024 initiative to enrol students who have completed Class 12 in government schools in 2022-23 and 2023-24 but not joined higher education or not applied. A total of 2.47 lakh students who cleared Class 12 in last two years have not joined higher education.
Under this programme, three camps with a gap of 10 days in between will be conducted starting from September 9.
In the letter, Muruganandam said 2,39,270 out of 3,97,809 students who completed Class 12 in 2022-23 had enrolled in higher education, and 45,440 had applied for admission. However, 1,13,099 students had either not applied or provided insufficient enrollment details.
Similarly, in 2023-24, a total of 1,97,510 out of 3,31,540 students have applied for higher education while 1,34,030 have not.
The chief secretary said there are several barriers preventing students from pursuing college education, including lack of information, early marriage, financial constraints forcing them to work, parental reluctance, health issues, and distance.
He has called on collectors to take efforts through the programme to ensure 100% enrollment of students in colleges or, as a last resort, in short-term skilling programmes.
Officials will also spread awareness about the ‘Earn While You Learn’ programme conducted by the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation to help the students.
Committees comprising revenue officials, school education department officials, and panchayat presidents should be formed in vulnerable and under-performing blocks with high dropout rates for better coordination, the letter said.
The chief secretary has also outlined the roles and responsibilities of various officers, including Chief Educational Officers, District Employment Officers, college principals and officials from the social welfare, labour, rural development, and Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) departments.