Lok Sabha Question No. 2753 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: School Drop-out Students
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: Dr. T Sumathy Alias Thamizhachi Thangapandian

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2753

ANSWERED ON 07/08/2024

## SCHOOL DROP-OUT STUDENTS

## 2753   DR. T SUMATHY ALIAS THAMIZHACHI THANGAPANDIAN:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the State-wise details of minority student drop-outs from schools, including those in Tamil Nadu along with the reasons for these drop-outs, State-wise;

(b) the details of steps taken/being taken by the Government to mitigate the drop-out rates; and (c) whether the schemes like the Mid-day Meal have effectively reduced the drop-out rates among minority children, especially in Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) Dropout Rate by level  of Education, State-wise for all notified 6 Minorities (including Muslims) students for the year 2021-22 is attached at Annexure-I .

(b) The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  with  effect  from  2018-19  is implementing  an  Integrated  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  for  School  Education-  Samagra 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  and  inclusive  classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process.

Under the scheme, financial assistance  is  provided  to  States  and  UTs  for  undertaking  various activities for reducing dropout rate, including opening/strengthening of new schools upto senior secondary  level,  construction  of  school  buildings  &  additional  classrooms,  setting  up,  upgradation  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, financial assistance upto ₹ 2000 per annum is being provided for Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 years, belonging to socio economically disadvantaged groups, for completing their education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification.

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. Also, Section 10 of the RTE Act states that it is 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.

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, including Balvatika.

(c) The Provision of one hot cooked meal under the PM POSHAN Scheme encourages children to attend School regularly and also contributes towards reduction in drop out rate. This was  also  observed  by  the  3 rd party  evaluation  carried  out  by  the  NITI  Aayog  in  2019-20  and evaluation carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition in 2017-18. As per the evaluation study of NIN 86% teachers also opined that Mid-day Meal helped in reducing the school dropout rates.

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Annexure  referred  in  reply  to  part  (a)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  no.  2753  for answer  on  07.08.2024  asked  by  DR.  T  Sumathy  Alias  Thamizhachi  Thangapandian, regarding 'School drop-out Students'.

Dropout Rate by level of Education for all notified 6 Minorities (including Muslims) - 2021-22

|                                    | Dropout Rate (Minority)   | Dropout Rate (Minority)   | Dropout Rate (Minority)   |
|------------------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|---------------------------|
| India/State/UT                     | Primary                   | Upper Primary             | Secondary                 |
| India                              | 10.5                      | 13                        | 24.4                      |
| Andaman &Nicobar Islands           | 3.8                       | 1.7                       | 7.8                       |
| Andhra Pradesh                     | 15.2                      | 25                        | 39                        |
| Arunachal Pradesh                  | 34.8                      | 36.4                      | 38.1                      |
| Assam                              | 11.8                      | 19                        | 34                        |
| Bihar                              | 0.6                       | 10                        | 26.8                      |
| Chandigarh                         | 26.6                      | 24.1                      | 17.8                      |
| Chhattisgarh                       | 47.2                      | 49.7                      | 54.2                      |
| Daman &Diu and Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 27.8                      | 32.7                      | 35.4                      |
| Delhi                              | 0                         | 0                         | 12.4                      |
| Goa                                | 27.4                      | 25.9                      | 35.4                      |
| Gujarat                            | 25.5                      | 31.1                      | 44                        |
| Haryana                            | 0.6                       | 11.2                      | 21.8                      |
| Himachal Pradesh                   | 38.6                      | 40.8                      | 49.1                      |
| Jammu &Kashmir                     | 5.7                       | 4.2                       | 7.1                       |
| Jharkhand                          | 17.1                      | 20.9                      | 27.8                      |
| Karnataka                          | 3.6                       | 6.6                       | 27.5                      |
| Kerala                             | 1                         | 1.8                       | 12.5                      |
| Ladakh                             | 9.6                       | 3.4                       | 5.5                       |
| Lakshadweep                        | 0.5                       | 2.5                       | 0                         |
| Madhya Pradesh                     | 16.8                      | 23.7                      | 30.2                      |
| Maharashtra                        | 19.6                      | 21.8                      | 33                        |
| Manipur                            | 28.6                      | 23.3                      | 24.1                      |
| Meghalaya                          | 22.7                      | 24.1                      | 35.1                      |
| Mizoram                            | 14                        | 9.5                       | 20.7                      |
| Nagaland                           | 13.5                      | 11.7                      | 26.4                      |
| Odisha                             | 27.3                      | 27.8                      | 43.9                      |
| Puducherry                         | 28                        | 29.3                      | 32.5                      |
| Punjab                             | 10.5                      | 14.6                      | 12.9                      |
| Rajasthan                          | 17.6                      | 21.3                      | 29.2                      |
| Sikkim                             | 43.3                      | 37.2                      | 48.4                      |
| Tamil Nadu                         | 0.1                       | 0                         | 5.8                       |
| Telangana                          | 3                         | 7.3                       | 11.1                      |
| Tripura                            | 26.5                      | 28.7                      | 37.8                      |
| Uttarakhand                        | 17.1                      | 24.7                      | 31.6                      |
| Uttar Pradesh                      | 9.9                       | 12.9                      | 21.7                      |
| West Bengal                        | 6.6                       | 0                         | 26.1                      |

*Data Source: UDISE+ 2021-22