Lok Sabha Question No. 848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-12
Subject: Education for Children of Migrant Workers and Underprivileged Children
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO -848

## ANSWERED ON 12/12/2022

## EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN OF MIGRANT WORKERS AND UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN

848. SHRIMATI POONAMBEN MAADAM:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  or  proposes  to  take  steps  to  ensure education of children of the migrant workers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the measure that are taken for the admission, smooth transition of such children as their parents' migration is not connected with the academic calendar; and
- (d)  whether the Government has planned to build more residential schools for the underprivileged children and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution and majority of the schools come under the purview of the respective State and UT Governments. 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  for  identification,  smooth admission process and continued education of migrant children, inter-alia, requesting the  States  to  identify  and  enroll  all  children  without  any  procedural  formalities  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.

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.

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. Under RTE Act special training is also provided for OoSC to enable their mainstreaming in a school. In order to ensure universal enrolment and schooling facilities in areas which are  sparsely  populated  with  low  density  of  population  (mostly  tribal  areas)  where opening  of  schools  may  not  be  viable  and  for  children  in  urban  areas  who  are  in need of care and protection, MoE  under Centrally Sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha  provides  financial  assistance  for  opening  and  running  of  Residential Schools, and Hostels in hilly terrain, small and sparsely populated areas for children without  adult  protection  who  are  in  need  of  shelter  and  care,  in  addition  to  the provision of regular schools.  The residential schools/hostels funded under Samagra residential

Shiksha have been named as 'Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose schools/hostels'.

In addition, to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) which are residential schools from class VI to XII for  girls  belonging  to  disadvantaged  groups  such  as  SC,  ST,  OBC,  Minority  and Below Poverty Line (BPL) have been sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks.

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