Khammam: Special summer classes for weaker students have received lukewarm response from parents in the district. The Telangana Education department had introduced the scheme to upgrade the skills of ‘C’ grade students from Class I to Class V to enable them read, write and do simple arithmetic.
However, about 40 per cent of the students haven’t been attending the special classes that started on April 27. The parents have been unable to send the children at 8 am every day due to different reasons.
Firstly, the agricultural workers, who are engaged in the various MNREGS works, are not showing much interest in sending their children to these schools.
K. Rama, an Anganwadi worker, said that it was a huge task for these workers to cook and serve food early in the morning to their children. There is no provision for food for the students at the summer schools.
The children too are more interested in playing rather than attending summer classes and the parents do not have the heart to send them to school during holidays.
Summer school attendance is less than 60 per cent in Kusumanchi, Bonakal, Chintakani, Tirumalayapalem, Enkoor, Karepalli and Kamepalli mandals.
The program within agency mandals is also not doing well. Many students say that they are coming to school on an empty stomach. P. Prabhakar, a teacher, said, “The program is designed to promote ‘C’ grade students to ‘A’ grade.
“The aim of the scheme is good, but the students should be provided some food to attract them to the special classes,” he observed.
The classes will continue till May 31 and the educational department is monitoring these classes.
