Lok Sabha Question No. 1199 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Out of School due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Rahul Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1199 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2021

## Out of School due to Covid-19 Pandemic

1199. SHRI RAHUL GANDHI: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the school closure due to Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in out of  school  children  and  decrease  in  enrolment  rate  in  public  and  private  schools, particularly in rural areas; (b) whether the Government is tracking students who have dropped out of schools. (c) if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government has assessed the impact of online classes on attendance and learning outcomes, especially in aspirational district, including Wayanad; (e) if so, the details thereof; and (f) whether the Government has initiated programs to address the learning losses and if

- so, the details thereof?

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

(a)  to  (f):  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+) 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      |

A National Achievement Survey across the country has been conducted on 12 th November  2021  for  Grade  3,  5,  8  and  10  students  of  State  Government  schools, Government Aided schools, Private Unaided recognized schools and Central Government schools for assessing the competencies attained by the students vis-a-vis learning outcomes.

During  the  pandemic,  the  Ministry  of  Education  has  taken  various  steps  for providing  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.

*****