Lok Sabha Question No. 155 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-18
Subject: Out of School Children
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 155 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.11.2019

## Out of School Children

## 155. SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

(a) the total number of out of school children (under the age of 18) in the country, State-wise; and

(b)  the  details  of  ongoing  and  proposed  schemes  of  Government  in  this  regard  to  bring  these children into the school system?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a): The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act came into effect from 1 st April, 2010. The Act makes elementary education a fundamental right of all the children in the  age  group  of  6-14  years.  Ministry  of  Human  Resource  Development  conducts  periodic independent survey to estimate out of school children in the age group of 6 to 13 years. As per Survey  conducted  by  the  International  Market  Research  Bureau  (IMRB)  in  2014,  there  were 20.41  crore  children  in  the  age  group  of  6-13  years  in  the  country,  out  of  which  60.64  lakh (2.97%) were out of school. The State/UT wise detail is at Annexure.

(b): Government of India in partnership with the States and UT Governments have taken a range of  initiatives  to  ensure  that  all  children  are  enrolled  in  schools  and  complete  their  elementary education. The Department of School Education and Literacy has launched an Integrated Scheme for  School  Education  -  Samagra  Shiksha  with  effect  from  2018-19  which  subsumes  the  three erstwhile  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan,  Rashtriya  Madhyamik

Shiksha Abhiyan  and  Teacher  Education.  The  scheme  envisages  school  education  as  a continuum from pre-school to senior secondary level and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for  undertaking  various  activities  to  reduce  number  of  out  of  school  children  including opening/strengthening  of  new  schools  upto  senior  secondary  level,  construction  of  school buildings  &  additional  classrooms,  setting  up,  up-gradation  and  running  of  Kasturba  Gandhi Balika  Vidyalayas,  setting  up  of  residential  schools/hostels,  free  uniforms,  free  text  books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. Further, special training for age  appropriate  admission  of  out  of  school  children  and  residential  as  well  as  non-residential training  for  older  children,  seasonal  hostels  /  residential  camps,  special  training  centres  at worksites,  transport/  escort  facility  are  also  supported  to  bring  out  of  school  children  to  the formal schooling system. Also, mid-day meal is provided to students at the elementary level of education.  Further,  under  the  student  oriented  component  for  the  children  with  special  needs, financial assistance is provided for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc.

Also,  Section  10  of  the  RTE  Act  states  that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  parent  or guardian to admit or cause to be admitted his or her child or ward, as the case may be, to an elementary education in the neighbourhood school.

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## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 155 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.11.2019 ASKED BY SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL REGARDING 'OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN'

## Out of School Children as per Independent Survey

| S. No.   | States/UTs           |    2014 |
|----------|----------------------|---------|
| 1        | A&N Islands          |    1015 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh       |  107829 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh    |    6517 |
| 4        | Assam                |  157813 |
| 5        | Bihar                | 1169722 |
| 6        | Chandigarh           |    1090 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh         |  167072 |
| 8        | Dadra & Nagar Haveli |     745 |
| 9        | Daman & Diu          |     421 |
| 10       | Delhi                |   85084 |
| 11       | Goa                  |       0 |
| 12       | Gujarat              |  159308 |
| 13       | Haryana              |   43879 |
| 14       | Himachal Pradesh     |    2176 |
| 15       | Jammu & Kashmir      |   45468 |
| 16       | Jharkhand            |  140426 |
| 17       | Karnataka            |  122139 |
| 18       | Kerala               |   33161 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep          |     267 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh       |  450952 |
| 21       | Maharashtra          |  145326 |
| 22       | Manipur              |    7037 |
| 23       | Meghalaya            |   17237 |
| 24       | Mizoram              |     972 |
| 25       | Nagaland             |    2896 |
| 26       | Odisha               |  401052 |
| 27       | Puducherry           |     285 |
| 28       | Punjab               |   91578 |
| 29       | Rajasthan            |  601863 |
| 30       | Sikkim               |     535 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu           |   57529 |
| 32       | Tripura              |    4518 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh        | 1612285 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand          |   86794 |
| 35       | West Bengal          |  339239 |
| Total    | Total                | 6064229 |

Source: IMRB Survey, 2014