A recent survey undertaken by a group of academic researchers in the city has shown a worrying co-relation between toddy shops and dropout rates. A study of more than two dozen government schools located near toddy shops, which have come up in the last one year, has revealed that there was an increase of 15% in dropout cases compared to previous years.
The schools analysed include those situated in Ameerpet, Yousufguda, Banjara Hills, Basheerbagh, Chintal and parts of Secunderabad. The survey was conducted over a period of three months by P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, Director, St. Joseph’s Degree and PG College and spokesperson of Telangana Aam Aadmi Party, along with a dozen other Ph.D scholars and research students.
“We spoke to a number of teachers, students and their family members for the survey. We learnt that since the toddy shops are located very close to government schools, parents are apprehensive about sending their girls as they fearing for their safety,” said Mr. Rao. “These toddy shops are violating excise norms as they are being operated very close to schools and places of worship. Since these shops are open till late hours, students who live in the vicinity are neither able to study nor sleep due to the nuisance created by the customers. These are some of the reasons why students are irregular to schools and eventually dropping out.”
The team also tried to find out the impact of alcohol on schoolchildren across Telangana. The sample size was a total of 800 schoolchildren from two mandals of every district in the State. The study showed that the 10% dropout rate was only because of increased violence in the households due to alcohol consumption. The deterioration of economic condition due to high spending on alcohol also was responsible for many parents pulling out their children from government schools, according to the findings.
“This government is encouraging people to consume more alcohol, toddy or cheap liquor for greater revenues and the results are devastating,” said Mr. Rao.
The schools analysed include those situated in Ameerpet, Yousufguda, Banjara Hills, Basheerbagh, Chintal and parts of Secunderabad
