Lok Sabha Question No. 1734 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-01
Subject: School Dropouts among Tribal Communities
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri K E Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 1734

TO BE ANSWERED ON- 01/08/2024

## SCHOOL DROPOUTS AMONG TRIBAL COMMUNITIES

## 1734   SHRI K E PRAKASH:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Ministry has implemented specific interventions to prevent school dropouts among tribal communities;
- (b) if so, the details of such interventions and programs implemented;
- (c) whether there have been any specific attempts or programs to reintroduce school dropouts from tribal communities back into the school system;
- (d) if so, the details and outcomes of such programs; and
- (e) the total funds allocated and utilized for these interventions and programs during the last three years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY)

- (a) to (e): Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) is implementing the Central Sector Scheme of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) to provide quality education to the tribal children (from class VI to XII) in their own environment from the year 2018-19. Earlier EMRS was a component under Article 275(1) of the Constitution. The enrollment of students in EMRSs during the year 2013-14 was 34,365 which has gradually increased every year and during 2023-24 the enrollment has become 1,23,841.

Ministry/NESTS has taken various attempts and programmes to motivate school dropouts from tribal communities back into the school system. Continuous efforts at the school level are undertaken to ensure that motivation level students are maintained for the continuation of their studies including good quality of food, regular counselling and additional support in the form of skill development. Every year, Ministry organizes cultural meet and sports meet for EMRS students to encourage them in extra-curricular activities by providing them national level exposure to exhibit their talents.

Various other initiatives taken by Ministry and NESTS to motivate EMRS students to carry on with their studies are as under:-

-           Establishment of Smart Classroom in EMRSs
-           Career Counselling Sessions for EMRS Students
-         Knowledge and Awareness Mapping Platform (KAMP)-NASTA-2023 initiative was

established with the fundamental  goal of evaluating and acknowledging science capabilities and talents of students enrolled in EMRSs.

-           Educational Excursion of EMRS & Literary Fest
-           Amazon Future Engineer Program for EMRS Students
-           Special Visit of EMRS Students to Rashtrapati Bhavan

As a result of various initiatives taken by MoTA/NESTS, the enrolment of students in EMRSs has noticeably increased every year.

Ministry  releases  funds  to  NESTS  and  NESTS  further  releases  funds  to  States/  UTs/  PSUs/ Construction Agencies/ State Societies as per their requirements. Fund released by MoTA to NESTS for the last three years is as under:

| Financial year                        |   2023-24 |   2022-23 |   2021-22 |
|---------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Fund released to NESTS (Rs. in crore) |   2447.61 |   1999.98 |   1057.74 |

In  addition  to  this,  Ministry  of  Education  (MoE),  Department  of School Education and  Literacy (DoSEL) is implementing Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), a system of central schools which are fully residential and co-educational schools affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) with classes from VI to XII standard for talented students predominantly from rural areas in India, including tribal students.

MoE is also implementing 'Samagra Shiksha' scheme, effective from 2018-19. Bridging gender and social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the scheme. The  scheme  reaches  out  to  girls,  and  children  belonging  to  SC,  ST,  Minority  communities  and transgender. The aim of  Samagra Shiksha Scheme is to universalize access to school education; to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education across all levels of school education from pre-primary to class XII. Under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), which are residential schools in educationally backward blocks of the country, for girls from class VI to XII, in the age group of 10-18 years, belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).

The Government has approved the continuation of the revised SamagraShiksha Scheme for a period of five years i.e., from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total financial outlay of Rs.2,94,283.04crore which includes a Central share of Rs.1,85,398.32 crore.