After successfully re-enrolling 192 students who had dropped out from schools in Coimbatore city in 2023 under the ‘Operation Reboot’ programme, the City Police are in the process of identifying dropouts this year and helping them continue schooling.
City Police Commissioner V. Balakrishnan said the police will check whether the 192 students re-enrolled in 2023 are continuing their studies in the current academic year.
“We will check the status of all the students this year. All of them had written the annual examinations,” he said.
In 2023, the team working for ‘Operation Reboot’ visited houses of over 300 dropouts in Coimbatore city. Majority of them had been studying in government schools and were forced to discontinue their studies due to various reasons, including financial constraints. Some of them who completed Class X and XI were found doing odd jobs to support families.
The project team comprising women personnel working in the ‘Police Akka’ project approached families of these students and convinced them the need to continue studies.
As a result 192 of them were enrolled back into their schools. The police also supported them with school fees and materials, including school bags, through Kavasam trust, a joint venture of police and industries.
“Now we will check whether all of them have come back to their schools in the new academic year. If there are new dropouts, they will also be identified and given counselling,” Mr. Balakrishnan said.
Besides encouraging students to continue their studies and equip them to secure jobs, ‘Operation Reboot’ is also aims at curbing child labour and cases of juvenile delinquencies. The programme also focuses on preventing dropouts from getting involved in anti-social activities and drug abuse.
