Govt ropes in NGOs, corporates to deal with school dropouts crisis

In its bid to include children, who are either school dropouts or are out-of-school, into the mainstream education system, the Delhi Government has planned to engage Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and corporate houses in its effort.

For this purpose, the Delhi Government has invited proposals from NGOs and corporates to run "special training centres" for out-of-school children and dropouts so as to prepare them for age-appropriate mainstream education.

The funding for these children lying in the age group of 6 to 14 years will be provided under the Universal Elementary Education Mission (UEEM)'s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

According to the officials of the education department, after inviting proposals a visit will be made to the facilities in order to determine their proficiency for the job.

"Interested NGOs and corporates can submit their applications to the Education department by April 28, following which visits will be made to the existing facilities to gauge their proficiency," a senior Directorate of Education (DoE) official said.

Official informed that proposals would be screened on different parameters only after which they would be considered for grant-in-aid.

"All the proposals received will be screened by the screening committee on the basis of credibility, capability and documents. The recommended proposals will be placed before the competent authority and the grant-in aid committee for further approval," the official added.