Pandemic effect: School enrolment dips, dropout increases in Dimapur

Educational institutions struggling to get out of financial woes

Purnungba Longkumer
Dimapur, Feb. 16 (EMN): Schools in Nagaland have finally reopened for students of Class 1 and above, while those in pre-primary section will follow suit next month, bringing relief to parents, but private educational institutions in Dimapur have found itself in dire straits due to low enrolment and pandemic-induced financial loss.

In an interaction with Eastern Mirror, administrators of several schools in the state’s commercial hub shared that private educational institutions are bearing the brunt of the ongoing pandemic.

Andrew Ahoto Sema, Chairman of Livingstone Foundation International, Dimapur, said that school enrolment in the lower sections, especially in LKG, had reduced to a minimum this year compared to previous years.

He said that the institution has seen a slight increase in the number of dropout due to the pandemic.

The Principal of Pranab Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, Manoj Bhattacharjee, also shared similar woes.

He said that school enrolment has decreased drastically. He added that the institution hasn’t witnessed dropout for now but there is a possibility of students dropping out in the near future.

Bhattacharjee went on to say that the school had run into loss due to the pandemic, ‘however they were managing it somehow’. He said that they had stopped recruiting new staff as the total number of students had reduced drastically and urged the government to come forward to help them financially.

Reena, a teacher at Peri and Smart Kids Montessori School, said that only 15 students enrolled this academic year and 11 students last year in the pre-primary section.

She added that the pandemic had caused a financial loss of around 60 to 70% to the institution, which is not possible to recover in two or three years.

Head teacher of Government Middle School, Ward 23 (Metha Colony), Narola Panger also told this newspaper that the number of students had gone down drastically, so too dropouts due to the pandemic.

Panger said that some students could not appear for the offline exams while many had left for their respective villages during the pandemic. She added most of the students, who wrote the exams, were promoted after giving re-test in the subjects they had failed.

She went on to inform that two television sets had been provided by the Centre for smart class, being of the 19 government schools selected to avail the benefit.

Meanwhile, Administrator of Wisdom Academy Dimapur, Niholi Swu said that the enrolment of students, especially in the lower section, was affected initially but was mitigated due to the co-operation of parents.

Swu added that the school is still recovering from the loss incurred due to the health crisis.

Principal of United Christian Higher Secondary School in Diphupar, Dr. Saza Lucy shared that although there were no cases of dropouts, the financial health of the school was not ‘stable’. She added that the school is yet to recover the pandemic-induced losses till date.

Principal of Christian Higher Secondary School (CHSS), S Moatemsu Walling said that enrolment is stable in all the sections and dropout rate is low. However, he said the school had endured some difficulties financially due to the pandemic and is still working on improving it.

Principal of Greenwood School, Nilie Kath Rengma also said that there was a rise in dropout of students due to the pandemic. Rengma added that the school had incurred financial loss but ‘somehow managed to pay salaries to the staff and carry out all responsibilities’.

Covid preventive measures

Moat students at Livingstone Foundation International aged 15 years and above have been vaccinated with at least the first dose and those who haven’t got the jabs due to valid reasons are asked to undergo the RT-PCR test at regular intervals, shared the chairman of the institution.

The school is well-sanitised every day and hand sanitisers are kept at all vantage points for students as well as the staff, along with hand wash points. It also has the provision for hand-held temperature scan machines to be used by security personnel at the entrance.

Sema informed that they have adequate isolation rooms and infirmaries for students as well as staff for coping with any situation. The routine has also been made in such a manner to ensure minimum crowding and all seating arrangements are maintained keeping in mind the social distancing norms, he added.

The GMS at Ward 23 (Metha Colony), has hand sanitiser and fogging machine provided by the government.

Students of United Christian Higher Secondary School enter the campus through two gates in order to maintain social distance, and all the students are scanned at the gate for safety measures, the principal informed.

At Pranab Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, wearing of face mask is mandatory, classrooms are sanitised twice daily, and classes held with 50% students in each section.

Other institutions including Christian Higher Secondary School (CHSS) and Wisdom Academy are also said to be following the SOP issued by the state government and taking preventive measures.

(This is first portion of a two-part series)