PATNA, May 21 -- Bihar's education department has asked teachers to be strict with students remaining habitually absent, as they could be enrolled with coaching by institutes or private tuition, and inform their parents that their wards' names could be struck down if they did not attend classes regularly. Additional chief secretary (education) S Siddharth said that while the teachers were working hard for turnaround in school education and the government was striving to provide all the necessary resources and facilitating their choice transfer, the quest for quality education would remain unfulfilled without the cooperation of students and parents. "The society at large is the biggest stakeholder as the entire effort is aimed at improving quality of education for the students. The parents must take responsibility for their wards and send them to schools regularly and participate in parents meeting. They are important stakeholders. In private schools, the parents are so involved and the same needs to happen in the government schools," he added. Siddharth said that the government was spending a lot in the field of education, giving all kinds of incentives to students and making regular recruitment, but if the students don't attend schools, as some teachers point out, the whole purpose would be defeated. "I want the teachers and headmasters to be strict with it. They can write to the parents about gross absenteeism of their wards and apprise them of the consequence. If the students attend classes for just 50-60 days out of mandated 270 days, how can quality be assured," he said. In 2023-24, the department had struck off admission of lakhs of students after they were found to be absent for a long time and suspected to be enrolled elsewhere. Last month, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had also announced that students not enrolled in regular schools would be banned from taking the Class 12 board examination would have a direct impact in Bihar, from where thousands of 'non-attending' students join coaching institutes both within the state and outside and take board exams from pre-identified centres....