LUCKNOW: Dont want to come to school? The school will come to you.Keeping children in UPs primary schools is a daily struggle for teachers. Many teachers dont bother. But even those who do would be hard pressed to better the strategy deployed by Amit Verma (43), an assistant teacher in the primary school in Lakara, Badagaon block, Jhansi.When Meena and Gajraj, 9-year-old class 4 students from the same family, stopped coming to school, Verma, with 14 years of teaching under his belt and with the responsibility of maintaining quality of education in five schools in the area, first sent other students to persuade the kids.Read Also11 rooms for 1.2k students, classes under trees & stairsChhajarsi composite school in Noida is facing a severe shortage of classrooms, with only 11 functional classrooms for its 1,200 students. The school has been conducting classes on the ground, under trees, and near staircases due to lack of space. The principal mentioned that the school has writtenConcerns mount as school dropout rates exceed national average in multiple statesOfficial data from the Ministry of Education has revealed that seven Indian states, including Gujarat, Bihar, and Karnataka, are grappling with higher secondary school dropout rates than the national average. The government emphasizes the need to combat dropout rates to achieve the goal of a 100%Then he tried talking to Meena and Gajrajs family elders. He was told the children were needed at home to help in housework.In many UP schools, that would have been the end of the story. Verma made it the beginning of a whole new story. Last Wednesday, after getting the nod from his head teacher, he took the entire Class 4 - 33 students - right outside Meena and Gajrajs house. Classes were held almost at the doorstep.Verma says he thought this would be the best way to demonstrate to the two dropouts and their parents what the kids are missing out on. The day he took the school to the dropouts home, it didnt begin well. Neither the family nor the villagers were much impressed. Then Verma, who travels 34 km every day for his teaching duties, started telling stories - short tales with morals on the importance of education.Maybe it was because hes a good raconteur or maybe because his gentle shaming worked, or perhaps because of both, villagers started coming to hear him - and then Meena and Gajraj trooped out.Since that day, the two kids have been back at school. The video of Verma taking the school to those who wouldnt come to school has gone viral. "I am famous now", says the teacher.He deserves his fame.

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