West Bengal: SFI to launch 'zero dropout' campaign as offline classes resume

Kolkata: The SFI, the students' wing of the CPI(M), on Monday said it will launch a campaign for "zero dropouts" in schools and colleges as physical classes resumed in educational institutes in West Bengal. Students Federation of India state unit president Srijan Bhattacharya said the campaign will begin this week in colleges and schools across various blocks of the state.

Also read | 38,408 schools, 2.86 lakh anganwadi centres don't have functional toilets: Government tells Rajya Sabha

"Particularly in schools, there have been cases of dropouts - more among girls in the financially weaker section of the society and students belonging to minority and Dalit communities. This trend emerged due to the closure of campuses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There have been little attempts by the state administration and the ruling TMC to stop that. Our volunteers and members will hit streets to launch the zero dropout campaign," he said.

The SFI had, in the past, launched a movement to reopen educational institutes as many poor students could not afford smartphones to attend online classes and had limited access to the internet. The state government allowed reopening of schools for students of classes 9 to 12 and colleges from November 16.

Also read | West Bengal asks schools to provide cooked mid-day meals for Classes 1 to 8