BENGALURU: The number of out-of-school (OOS) children in the state has seen a five-fold increase this year in comparison to the previous year. The survey conducted by the of primary and secondary education department is completed and the report is ready.

As per the survey, the total number of out-of-school children in the state is 70,116 as against 14,000 who were identified by the department of primary and secondary education department during 2017-18. The highest number of OOS children identified is in Bengaluru Urban, which comes to around 10,000, followed by Bengaluru Rural and Kalaburagi.

This time, to track the OOS children properly, the department had associated with many other departments, communities and universities for the survey. Before the commencement of the 2018-2019 academic year, the department had identified 14,192 as OOS children.

MT Reju, State Project Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, said that considering the difference of data between the number of students available on Students Achievement Tracking System (SATS) and in the survey, the department had decided to do it in a more robust manner this year. The survey covered children up to the age of 16 as against the previous age of 14.

In the survey report, the department has even listed reasons for children being out of schools. Major reasons included migration, children not showing interest in studies, parents not sending children to schools and ignorance towards girls’ education.

“There are 21 reasons listed in the survey format. Only major reasons and numbers are given in the press note.There are around 20,000 cases wherein reasons are not clearly entered in the survey format.Cluster-level officers have been directed to contact these children again to identify the reasons and propose remedial interventions accordingly,” said Reju.