Gadwal district administration taking steps to promote girls education

Gadwal: Gadwal district is regarded as most backward as far education is concerned. Enrolment of girls in the higher education - Intermediate and degree - is very low.

According to an estimate, not less than 40 per cent of total 7,000 students, who passed SSC examinations last year in Gadwal district, dropped out. Majority of dropouts are the girl students.

The state government has now decided to upgrade the existing Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vdyalayas (KGBVs) in the district to ensure that the girl students continue their higher studies.

As part of it, the district officials have prepared a detailed report on the number of junior colleges in the district, number of students passed out in SSC every year from each mandal and also sent details of mandals which witnessed higher number of dropouts SSC.  The officials have identified that Rajoli, KT Dhoddi, and Itikyala mandals of the district as the mandals with highest dropout rate and with least enrolment of girls into higher education.  

In view of this, district officials have sent proposals to the State government to upgrade the KGBVs in these mandals up to intermediate level from the coming academic year.

The district officials are confident that once the government gives them the nod, they would upgrade the KGBVs by introducing intermediate courses from the upcoming academic year in all the said mandals to begin with.

If the plans of the district officials materialise, the total number of government junior colleges in the district would go up to 12. At present the district is already having nine junior colleges, including one residential junior college. The establishment of three more junior colleges would benefit another 1,000 students of the district.

Hrudaya Raju, the nodal officer of the Intermediate colleges of Gadwal district, said the proposals were sent to the State government for the establishment of the three more junior colleges. “We have already sent detailed proposals to the government to grant permission to upgrade three KGBVs into Junior colleges in the district. We are waiting for the orders of the State government. This will definitely help reduce the dropout percentage in rural areas of the district," said Raju.

Moreover, the parents are reluctant to send their daughter to far-off places for education. That is why the district administration has taken an initiative to establish junior colleges near the villages.  

“The mindset of majority of parents, particularly in the rural areas of Gadwal, hasn’t changed. They feel educating girl is of no use and give more priority to marriage of the girl rather than encouraging them to take up higher education. If girl’s security is one reason, the accessibility of higher education beyond SSC is another problem,” said Nanda Kishore, a resident of Gadwal.

Another reason is that only merit students are being admitted in to the existing junior colleges and the remaining average students are left out due to lack of availability of seats. “if the child doesn’t get a seat in intermediate college then the parents of these children send them to different types of works and push them into child labour.

If the government’s proposal to make KGBVs into intermediate colleges then it will help improve the girl child education to a great deal in the district,” opined Ravi Prakash, representative of Speed NGO, who has been working towards eradication of child labour in Gadwal district.