On the eve of the International Day for The Girl Child, it appears that the scheme launched in June last year and inspired by similar initiatives in other states is still to act as an adequate incentive to raising the numbers of girl children at school; they usually stay at home or do odd-jobs for the family.
There are 2,16,571 girl students in civic schools around the city, each of whom has a stake in the initiative. While the drop-out rate for students between grades I and V is 5 per cent, the figure for students between the Vth and VIIth grades is 8 per cent. However, the money for the first academic year (2007-2008) is only being disbursed now, after a series of delays.
In March last year, all teachers were asked to submit a list of students but the people from the bank didnt come till a few months ago, said a teacher with a BMC school, who did not wish to be named. The bank, however, says that since this is the first time that such an initiative has been taken, it will take them a while to iron out some of the finer points.
We are distributing the money for last year a little late, but that is because there were a number of small details to see to, said Municipal Corporation Bank Director Mahavir Bangar, who oversees education-related affairs. Also, as the money goes straight into the students hands, they have to be present when the bank representatives visit their schools. But because they are given short notice, the students often end up missing their dues and have to wait for the next visit which often takes months.
Sometimes, they only give us the intimation a day earlier and by that time the students have left; so they have to wait till the next time the bank visits the school, pointed out another teacher from a different BMC school. My daughter is in the IIIrd grade at a civic school but she has not got any of the money due to her so far, said A Arputhraj, a parent. This was despite the fact that that his wife had been to the school when the distribution was to occur, he added.
We are planning to start giving schools an longer intimation. Sometimes we have a problem too, since we dont have the contact numbers of all the schools, Bangar informed.
Agreeing that there has been a problem of delays, BMC Education Officer A J Thakre said, This time we are definitely working on how to distribute the money twice a year, at the end of each semester. There were delays last year, because we had difficulties coordinating with the bank. But we are definitely working to make the distribution better.
We are going to start telling students who miss the distribution to come and claim the money from the bank if possible, said Bangar. He added that he would be submitting a report to the Board of Governors, giving directions for changes to be made in order to implement the scheme in a more effective manner.