Lok Sabha Question No. 117 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-29
Subject: Out of School Children during CORONA
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Rahul Ramesh Shewale

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 117 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2021

## Out of School Children during CORONA

117. SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT:

SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE:

DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether due to Covid-19 Pandemic out-of-school children are likely to double in the country;
- (b) if so, whether the Government has conducted any study, survey in this regard;
- (c)  the  number  of  children  dropped  out  during  2020  and  2021  as  compared  to corresponding period of previous years;
- (d) whether out-of-school children was a major concern even after the first wave;
- (e)  whether  lack  of  internet  access  or  not  having  a  proper  learning  space  is  a  major reason for such high dropout;
- (f) if so, the response of the Government thereon;
- (g)  whether the Government has drawn up any action plan to check school dropouts and address learning gaps; and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a)  to  (g):  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 Department of School Education & Literacy has, in order to prevent drop outs, lower enrolments and loss of learning, issued guidelines on 13 th  July, 2020 for identification, smooth admission process and continued education of migrant children.

Further, 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  7 th   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.

Also, a comprehensive Covid action plan  has been shared with the States and UTs on 4 th   May  2021,    outlining  the  role  of  local  bodies,  formation  of  nodal  group  at village/town level, conducting door-to-door/helpdesk-based/app based survey to identify out of school children, their mainstreaming and resource sharing.

This Department has also 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.

As per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) 2018-19 and  2019-20, dropout rate at all levels is as under:

| 2018-19   | 2018-19       | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2019-20       | 2019-20   |
|-----------|---------------|-----------|-----------|---------------|-----------|
| Primary   | Upper Primary | Secondary | Primary   | Upper Primary | Secondary |
| 4.5       | 4.7           | 17.9      | 1.5       | 2.6           | 16.1      |

During  the  pandemic,  the  Ministry  of  Education  has  taken  various  steps  for providing children continued access to education, which are available to each category of students irrespective of their region or economic standard. A comprehensive initiative called PM  e-Vidya  has  been  started  which  aims  to  unify  all  efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The initiative includes all forms of digital modes to provide wide access- DIKSHA (online), SWAYAM (online),  SWAYAM  PRABHA  (TV),  other  TV  Channels  including  use  of  Doordarshan and  AIR  Networks.  Further,  an  Alternate  Academic  Calendar  has  been  prepared  for learning  solutions  for  grade  1  to  12  for  both  children  with  and  without  device.  Also, Pragyata guidelines were issued to States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various modes. The guidelines inter-alia include situation where internet connectivity is not  available  or  available  with  very  less  bandwidth,  resources  are  shared  through various platforms like television, radio etc that do not depend on internet.

Under the Samagra Shiksha 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 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,  for  elementary  education  in  the  neighbourhood school.

Under this  scheme,  for  the  first  time  in  2021-22,  financial  assistance  upto  Rs. 2000 per annum has been provided 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. Also, 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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