Lok Sabha Question No. 1963 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-14
Subject: Out of School Children
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1963 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.03.2022

## Out of School Children

1963. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is true that more than 35 lakh children in the age group of 6-14 years are out of schools as per the data shared by States;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to face this enormous challenge lying ahead and ensure that all the children are admitted in schools again; and
- (d) whether it is true that many States have been requesting for funding under Samagra Siksha Scheme and if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?

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

(a) to (d): The Department of School Education and Literacy with effect from 2018-19 has  launched  an  Integrated  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  School  EducationSamagra Shiksha . The scheme has now been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable diverse background,  multilingual  needs,  different  academic  abilities  and  make  them  active

- and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their participants in the learning process.

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,  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.  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.

Further,  for  the  first  time  in  2021-22,  financial  assistance  upto  Rs.  2000  per annum has been envisioned for supporting Out of School Children of age group of 1619 years, belonging to socio economically disadvantaged groups, for completing their education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification.

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.

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.

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.

Under Samagra Shiksha financial assistance is provided as per the fund sharing pattern as decided by the Ministry of Finance. Under the scheme, the annual plans are prepared by the States and UTs based on their requirements and priority and this is reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) Proposals. These plans are then appraised and approved/estimated by the Project Approval Board (PAB) in  the  Department of School Education & Literacy in consultation with the States and UTs  as  per  the  programmatic  and  financial  norms  of  the  scheme,  and  physical  and financial progress of the State for the interventions approved earlier. Further, the funds are  released  on  the  basis  of  submission  of  Audited  Accounts,  Utilization  Certificate, physical and financial progress and other documents as prescribed under the Financial Management & Procurement (FMP) Manual of Samagra Shiksha.

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