Lok Sabha Question No. 2182 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Out of School Surveys
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Srinivas Kesineni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2182 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2021

## Out of School Surveys

2182. SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Out of School Children survey has been completed by States and UTs and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) if so, the number of boys and girls identified under this survey, State/UT-wise
- (d) whether the Government has worked out a plan of action to address the education needs of adolescent girls during the pandemic; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a)  to  (c): In  order  to  prevent  drop  outs,  lower  enrolments  and  loss  of  learning,  the Ministry of Education has issued guidelines for identification, smooth admission process and continued education of migrant children on 13 th  July, 2020, inter-alia, requesting the States  to  identify  and  enrol  all  such  children  without  any  procedural  formalities  and maintain a database of children so admitted.

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 Ministry has 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. (d) & (e): 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.

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