Gadwal: District Collector B.M. Santosh has directed officials to implement the Badi Bata (School Enrollment Drive) program in a well-planned manner, not only to increase student enrollment in government schools but also to prevent dropouts.

On Friday, a meeting was held at the IDOC Conference Hall with education department officials to review the Badi Bata program and the distribution of school uniforms.

Speaking on the occasion, the District Collector emphasized the need to increase student enrollment in schools. He instructed that all students from classes 1 to 9 enrolled last academic year must be enrolled in classes 2 to 10 this year without fail. A clear list should be prepared showing which schools the children in Anganwadi centers will join, and welfare officers should ensure each child is enrolled accordingly.

He stressed the identification of out-of-school children and the need to guide and enroll them in schools without exception. Daily action plans under the Badi Bata program should be submitted as reports. He also directed officials to visit every household, identify students studying in Anganwadi, government, and private schools, and update the village education register.

The Collector instructed all officials to prevent child marriages and ensure that every child continues their education. He asked for awareness meetings to be conducted at the mandal level about school admissions. He also called for maintaining cleanliness and proper sanitation in schools.

Parents should be made fully aware of the various benefits offered by the government to students studying in government schools, including free textbooks, notebooks, uniforms, digital education, scholarships, and other incentives. He further suggested promoting the academic success of Class 10 students in government schools to encourage enrollments.

He instructed that high-quality school uniforms must be distributed to students by June 12, prior to the reopening of schools. APMs must ensure that the uniforms are submitted to Mandal Education Officers by June 11 without fail.

Any school facing issues should submit detailed reports so immediate solutions can be provided. He also insisted that data on the number of students and the distribution of uniforms in each school must be available to avoid any complaints of students being left out.

Additional Collector Lakshmi Narayana, Narsinga Rao, DEO Abdul Ghani, DPO Nagendram, Welfare Officer Sunanda, ED SC Corporation Ramesh Babu, Mandal Education Officers, APMs, and others attended the meeting.