Lok Sabha Question No. 4221 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-27
Subject: Education for Poor Children
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sanjay Bhatia

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO4221

ANSWERED ON- 27/03/2023

## EDUCATION FOR POOR CHILDREN

## †4221. SHRI SANJAY BHATIA:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to conduct a survey to identify those children who are picking garbage and are homeless and migrating; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government proposes to provide school education to the identified children in cooperation with the States; (d) whether the Government provides education to the children free of cost and take initiatives to ensure that the children from the poor section of the society get quality education on the lines of other countries; (e) whether the children identified to be homeless, migrant and engaged in picking garbage have been admitted to schools by the Government during the academic session from 2014 to

- 2022 under the Right to Education; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) & (b): Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools fall under the domain of the respective State/UT Government - the appropriate Government under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  is  implementing  an  integrated centrally sponsored scheme for School education- Samagra Shiksha. The scheme provides support  for  the  implementation  of  the  RTE  Act  and  has  now  been  aligned  with  the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Under the Scheme, all the States and Union Territories (UTs) are required to conduct Household Survey for identification of Out of School Children (OoSC) including homeless and migrating children. This Department has developed an online module for compiling the data of OoSC identified by each State/UT and their mapping with Special Training Centres (STC) on the PRABANDH Portal. 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.

(c) to (f): In order to mitigate the impact of challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic for migrant  children  and  for  preventing  drop  outs,  lower  enrolments  and  loss  of  learning,  this department has issued guidelines dated 13.07.2020 to all the States and UT Governments for identification, smooth admission process and continued education of migrant children, interalia, requesting the States to identify and enroll all children without the requirement of any document except an identity card and maintain a database of children so admitted. Further, students of residential school should also be provided temporary admission in schools nearby their homes, as they may not go back to their residential schools during COVID19.

Also, to ensure that children have access to education with quality and equity and to minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education in the country, Ministry of Education has shared guidelines dated 7th January, 2021 with all States which, among others, include identification of out of school children from age 6-18 years, enrolment drives and awareness generation, student support while schools are closed, continued Education for children with Special Needs (CWSN), student support on school reopening and Teacher capacity building.

The Department of School Education and Literacy, through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha provides financial assistance to the States and UTs for carrying out various interventions to provide equitable and qualitative education, including 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. The norms for special training is  ₹ 6000/- per child per annum for non-residential courses and  ₹ 20,000/- per child per annum for residential courses.

Since 2021-22, financial assistance upto Rs. 2000 per annum is being provided for supporting Out of School Children including migrant 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. 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, for elementary education in the neighbourhood school. 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, including Balvatika.

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