Lok Sabha Question No. 313 (STARRED), answered on 2022-08-08
Subject: Out-of-School Children
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 313 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2022

## Out-of-School Children

## *313. SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has launched a portal to compile data of out-of-school children in the  age  group  of  6-14  years  and  those  belonging  to  socially  and  economically  disadvantaged group;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  planned  to  provide  financial  assistance  for  out-of-school children  in  the  age  group  of  16-18  years  to  continue  their  education  through  open/distance learning mode;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  ensure  continuation  of  education  of  orphaned children in the coming years; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (f)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 313 FOR ANSWER ON 08.08.2022 ASKED BY HON'BLE MPs SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR AND SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR REGARDING OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN

(a)  to  (f):  Education  is  in  the  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution  and  majority  of  the  schools come under the purview of the respective State and UT Government.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, mandates the appropriate Government to provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child of the age 6 to 14 years in a neighbourhood school.

This Department has developed an online module for compiling the data of Out of School Children (OoSC) identified by each State/UT and their mapping with Special Training Centres (STC) on the PRABANDH Portal (http://samagrashiksha.in). The concerned State/UT validates the child wise information of the identified OoSC and STC uploaded by the concerned Block Resource Centre of the State for monitoring the progress of mainstreaming of OoSC.

Under Samagra Shiksha, for the first time in 2021-22, financial assistance upto ₹ 2000 per  annum has been envisioned for supporting Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 years,  belonging  to  socio  economically  disadvantaged  groups,  for  completing  their  education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification.

Under  the  scheme,  financial  assistance  is  provided  to  States  and  UTs  for  undertaking various activities to reduce number of Out of School Children (OoSC) 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  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya  Vidyalayas,  free uniforms  to  eligible  children  and  free  text  books  at  elementary  level,  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. 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. The PM CARES for children scheme inter alia provides support to children who have lost their  parent(s)  to  COVID  pandemic,  through  convergent  approach,  gap  funding  for  ensuring education, health, monthly stipend from the age of 18 years, and lump sum amount of Rs. 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age. Under PM CARES, admission shall be provided in any nearest school as a day scholar i.e. Government/ Government aided School/ Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs)/ Private Schools. Under 'Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman' (PM POSHAN) one hot cooked meal in Government and Government aided schools is provided to students at the elementary level of education. Under  National Means-cum-Merit  Scholarship  Scheme  scholarship is awarded  to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

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