Celebrating student talent: Ranchi's government schools host grand annual day celebrations; Aim to reduce dropout rates and engage students post-exams

Ranchi: Govt primary and middle schools across Ranchi marked the end of the 2025–26 academic session with a grand annual day celebration on Wednesday, bringing together over two lakh students from more than 2,000 institutions.

The district-wide event saw participation from over 7,000 teachers and more than 50,000 parents. More than 30,000 cultural performances, including dance, music, theatre and poetry, were staged across schools, making it one of the largest coordinated school events in the district in recent years, said officials.

DC Manjunath Bhajantri attended a programme in Kanke Road and highlighted the intent behind the initiative. “Annual day celebrations were traditionally limited to private schools. However, students in govt schools are equally talented and need similar opportunities to express themselves,” he said.

District superintendent of education Badal Raj said the initiative was part of a structured effort to curb dropouts and retain student engagement after exams.

“We organised the annual day for the second time with a clear focus on reducing dropout rates. Earlier, many students in govt schools would drift away after Class 7 or 8 exams. To address this, we created a linkage by organising two weeks of cultural programmes immediately after exams so that students remain connected to schools,” he said.

He added that the impact is already visible. “During the cultural weeks, attendance was around 90%, with activities like yoga and public speaking drawing strong participation. Even today, attendance in many schools is nearly 95%. The dropout rate, which was around 9% earlier in 2024, has come down to about 3.5% in 2025, and our target this year is to bring it below 1%,” he said.

According to the district administration, the initiative is part of a broader strategy to rebuild trust in govt schools while addressing dropout concerns through sustained student engagement. “The idea is to make schools more participative and ensure that students remain connected even beyond classroom learning,” Raj added.