Lok Sabha Question No. 5238 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Data of Non-Attending School Children of Age Group 6 to 12 years
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-

## 5238

ANSWERED ON- 03/04/2023

## DATA OF NON-ATTENDING SCHOOL CHILDREN OF AGE GROUP 6 TO 12 YEARS

## †5238. SHRI SUKHBIR SINGH JAUNAPURIA:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has launched a portal to collect the data of children in the age group of 6-12 years who are not attending school and the children belonging to socially and economically deprived classes; (b) if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government has conducted any survey regarding the children not attending schools in Rajasthan particulary rural areas of Tonk and Sawai Madhopur districts; and (d) if so, the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard?

## 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 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 the children belonging to socially and economically deprived classes. 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)  &  (d):  As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  State  Government  of  Rajasthan,  at  the beginning of the academic session, house hold survey is conducted to identify children (not attending schools) deprived of education in the districts of Tonk and Sawai Madhopur.

In Tonk district, out of 5163 identified OoSC, 4446 were linked to general education. In Sawai Madhopur district, out of 530 identified OoSC, 484 were linked to general education.

The State Government runs an enrollment campaign to connect the identified children with the school. The parents/villagers/local residents are encouraged to enroll the children by making  available  information  about  various  government/departmental  schemes  related  to education and encourage for enrollment of children.

Further, under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for undertaking various activities for reducing the 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  and  running  of  Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya Vidyalayas, provision of free uniforms, free text books to the eligible students 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 nonresidential  training  for  older  children,  seasonal  hostels  /  residential  camps,  special  training centres at worksites, 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.

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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