Vishakhapatanam: Refurbishment of infrastructure with modern furniture, toilets and power supply influenced over 45,000 students in north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam to quit private schools and join government schools during the last academic year.
In addition to the facilities, the students were also drawn to the government schools due to government efforts to introduce English medium from primary level, opined district educational officers of the three districts.
Visakhapatnam district has 6,91,782 school students and of them 3.32 lakh are enrolled in the private schools. During the last academic year 14,782 new admissions were recorded in various government schools, said district educational officer M. Chandrakala.
“This year we will have more admissions compared to last year as more schools have added infrastructure this year. The other factor is the government's decision to launch a training programme for teachers to upgrade skills,’’ she said.
Similarly, Srikakulam district has a strength of 3.7 lakh students and of them one lakh were studying in private schools. Around 20,000 left private and corporate schools and joined various government schools, said DEO M. Lingeswara Reddy.
The number is comparatively less in Vizianagaram district where 10,000 new admissions were reported last year. The district has around three lakh students enrolled in various schools.
“The students from smaller private schools got admitted in government schools as their parents lost employment due to two phases of Covid-19,’’ said D. Uday Kumar who runs a corporate school in Seethammadhara area in Visakhapatnam.
He said the virus led to closure of many schools which resulted in many going to government schools. However, the reputed schools still have the same strength and the demand for admissions is still high, Uday Kumar said.
