Lok Sabha Question No. 1870 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-30
Subject: Out of School Children
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RAGHAV LAKHANPAL, RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY, JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA, SHER SINGH GHUBAYA

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1870 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2018

## Out of School Children

1870. SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL: DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE: SHRI SHER SINGH GHUBAYA:

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

- (a)   whether the Government has any data regarding number of out of school children in the country and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (b)  the details of children belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) and Minority Community who are out of school, State/UT-wise;
- (c)   whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  set  accountability  of  the  parents  for  not sending their children to school so that each child of the country can attend school, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  has  been  successful  in  its  attempt  to  bring  all  the  children  to schools, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)   the steps taken/being taken by the Government to check this trend?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

- (a) & (b) 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-I. The State/UT wise details of out of school children belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Minority communities are at Annexure-II .
- (c)   The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE Act) makes elementary  education  a  fundamental  right  of  all  children  in  the  age  group  of  6-14  years. Section 8 of the Act makes it an obligation of the 'Appropriate Government' to provide free elementary education to every child in the age group of six to fourteen years. The approach of the Government is to motivate and persuade the parents and guardians to send their children to  school.  The  States/UTs  regularly  organise  Enrolment  Drives  at  the  beginning  of  the academic  session  in  which  public  representatives,  officials,  civil  society  representatives, Panchayati Raj Institution members, etc. undertake community mobilization drives to ensure that parents enroll and send their children to school.
- (d)   The  Ministry  of  Human  Resource  Development  (MHRD)  commissioned  independent surveys in the years 2005, 2009 and 2014 to estimate the number of out of school children in the country. According to these surveys, there has been a consistent reduction in the number of Out of School Children in the country. The details are as under:-
- (e)   Government of India in partnership with the State/UT Governments has taken a number of  initiatives  to  universalise  elementary  education  and  reduce  the  number  of  out  of  school children.

| 2005                         | 2005                            | 2009                         | 2009                            | 2014                         | 2014                           |
|------------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Total No. of OOSC (6-13 age) | %of OOSC in the 6- 13 age group | Total No. of OOSC (6-13 age) | %of OOSC in the 6- 13 age group | Total No. of OOSC (6-13 age) | %of OOSC in the 6-13 age group |
| 134.6 lakh                   | 6.94                            | 81.5 lakh                    | 4.28                            | 60.64 lakh                   | 2.97                           |

Source: IMRB Reports.

Under  the  erstwhile  centrally  sponsored  scheme  Sarva  Shiksha  Abhiyan  (SSA) financial assistance was provided to States/UTs for undertaking various activities to reduce number of out of school children including opening of new schools, construction of schools & additional classrooms, opening of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV), opening of residential schools/hostels, transportation facilities, free uniforms,  free text  books, enrolment  &  retention  drives  &  mid  day  meal  to  6-14  years  old  students.  Further,  special training  for  age  appropriate  admission  of  out  of  school  and  residential  as  well  as  nonresidential  training  for  older  children  so  as  to  integrate  out  of  school  children  to  an  age appropriate class is also supported by MHRD.

The Integrated Scheme for School Education - Samagra Shiksha, which subsumes the erstwhile centrally sponsored scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) has been launched from 2018-19,  which  treats  education  as  a  continuum  from  pre-school  to  class  XII  and  further makes provisions for undertaking interventions at all levels of school education for increasing access and reducing drop out.

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## Annexure - I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1870 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2018 ASKED BY SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL AND OTHERS 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

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1870 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2018 ASKED BY SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL AND OTHERS REGARDING 'OUT OF SCHOOL CHILDREN'

State wise details of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Minority communities

| S. No.   | States/UTs          |      SC |      ST |   Minority |
|----------|---------------------|---------|---------|------------|
| 1        | A&N Islands         |     275 |       0 |          0 |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh      |   27911 |   12721 |       4751 |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh   |       0 |    6517 |       6517 |
| 4        | Assam               |    5850 |   10138 |     102782 |
| 5        | Bihar               |  524150 |   30746 |     252954 |
| 6        | Chandigarh          |    1090 |       0 |          0 |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh        |    2410 |  119426 |          0 |
| 8        | Dadra &Nagar Haveli |     172 |       0 |          0 |
| 9        | Daman &Diu          |     421 |       0 |          0 |
| 10       | Delhi               |   22185 |    5788 |      52138 |
| 11       | Goa                 |       0 |       0 |          0 |
| 12       | Gujarat             |   69721 |   30155 |      21889 |
| 13       | Haryana             |    4023 |   35997 |      30294 |
| 14       | Himachal Pradesh    |       0 |       0 |          0 |
| 15       | Jammu &Kashmir      |   15382 |    7379 |      44177 |
| 16       | Jharkhand           |   24438 |   25644 |      68019 |
| 17       | Karnataka           |   52769 |   10034 |      13707 |
| 18       | Kerala              |    5016 |    6343 |      12321 |
| 19       | Lakshadweep         |       0 |     267 |        267 |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh      |  130562 |  130680 |     117830 |
| 21       | Maharashtra         |   43454 |   28702 |      28502 |
| 22       | Manipur             |       0 |    1751 |       3888 |
| 23       | Meghalaya           |     505 |   16109 |      16732 |
| 24       | Mizoram             |       0 |     972 |        972 |
| 25       | Nagaland            |       0 |    2896 |       2896 |
| 26       | Odisha              |  109987 |  215994 |       7287 |
| 27       | Puducherry          |       0 |       0 |          0 |
| 28       | Punjab              |   63489 |       0 |      19041 |
| 29       | Rajasthan           |  129861 |  133459 |      87423 |
| 30       | Sikkim              |       0 |     535 |        535 |
| 31       | Tamil Nadu          |   41556 |    1189 |       5178 |
| 32       | Tripura             |     277 |    3037 |       1590 |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh       |  560531 |  108833 |     557870 |
| 34       | Uttarakhand         |   36611 |       0 |      43296 |
| 35       | West Bengal         |   93383 |   62251 |     158957 |
| Total    | Total               | 1966029 | 1007563 |    1661813 |