Chennai Corporation Identifies 7,302 Dropouts, Sets August 31 Target

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has identified 7,302 out-of-school children across the city and launched a coordinated field-level initiative to bring them back into the education system by August 31. Corporation Commissioner Dr G.S. Sameeran inaugurated a consultation meeting with field officials at the Ripon Buildings on Thursday to roll out the plan.

The re-enrolment drive is being coordinated jointly by the Corporation's Gender and Policy Lab (GPL), the education department, the community development division, and the socio-economic development division. Addressing officials, Dr Sameeran said the issue must be handled on a priority basis to ensure every identified child returns to formal schooling.

Dr Sameeran noted that the exercise must not stop at identification. He instructed teams to focus on understanding the reasons behind each dropout, engaging directly with families, facilitating re-admissions, and monitoring attendance to ensure children continue their education.

Under the implementation framework, social coordinators will conduct field surveys, establish contact with families, provide counselling, and coordinate with local schools. They will also carry out regular follow-up visits to track attendance and prevent children from dropping out again.

As many as 96 social coordinators from the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) received training during Thursday's meeting to execute the field-level outreach.

The meeting was attended by Joint Commissioner (Education) K. Karpagam, Principal Education Officer Kabir, Corporation Education Officer J. Vasanthi, assistant education officers, GPL team head Dr Legis, and senior officials from the community development, socio-economic development, and NULM divisions.