Maha survey from March 1-10 to find out-of-school students
Image is used for representational purpose only. MUMBAI: After several reports that suggested an increased learning disparity among students due to the Covid-19 resultant lockdown, the education department is undertaking a 10 day survey to identify out-of-school children and bring them back into the formal system.
In a government resolution issued on Tuesday, the department set up committees at the state and district level to undertake a drive between March 1 and 10 to identify students between the age of 6 and 18 years who are out-of-school. Officials from various government departments will be roped in for the same. “With the pandemic in play last year and schools shut, we have been faced with new challenges with respect to out-of-school students. There is a risk that with higher migration, there could be a rise in the number of children, including girls falling out of the formal education system and falling prey to child labour or child marriages. Thus, it is important to bring the students back to school,” said the GR.
The drive will include surveys at the household level to identify details of students who might have changed their homes in the pandemic and have remained unavailable for online classes as well. Officials will seek help from NGOs to help track students who have remained inaccessible through the lockdown months. The GR has also constituted committees at the village level for better outreach. While the state doesn’t yet have an estimate of out-of-school students, the BMC said nearly 60,000 of its students did not have access to online education and 37,000 had migrated to other parts of the country. Of these, the BMC hasn’t been able to establish contact with 1,700 students.
However, experts are wary about the on-ground implementation and impact of the programme. “While it’s a good move, there have several such exercises in the past. Even if the government finds the out-of-school students and enrols them in schools, the real task is to ensure they do not dropout once again. There need to be better measures to keep migrating students back in the formal education system by means of allowing them to continue their education parallelly at another school when they move,” said Vaishali Bafna from Pune-based think tank System Correction Movement (SYSCOM).
In a government resolution issued on Tuesday, the department set up committees at the state and district level to undertake a drive between March 1 and 10 to identify students between the age of 6 and 18 years who are out-of-school. Officials from various government departments will be roped in for the same. “With the pandemic in play last year and schools shut, we have been faced with new challenges with respect to out-of-school students. There is a risk that with higher migration, there could be a rise in the number of children, including girls falling out of the formal education system and falling prey to child labour or child marriages. Thus, it is important to bring the students back to school,” said the GR.
The drive will include surveys at the household level to identify details of students who might have changed their homes in the pandemic and have remained unavailable for online classes as well. Officials will seek help from NGOs to help track students who have remained inaccessible through the lockdown months. The GR has also constituted committees at the village level for better outreach. While the state doesn’t yet have an estimate of out-of-school students, the BMC said nearly 60,000 of its students did not have access to online education and 37,000 had migrated to other parts of the country. Of these, the BMC hasn’t been able to establish contact with 1,700 students.
However, experts are wary about the on-ground implementation and impact of the programme. “While it’s a good move, there have several such exercises in the past. Even if the government finds the out-of-school students and enrols them in schools, the real task is to ensure they do not dropout once again. There need to be better measures to keep migrating students back in the formal education system by means of allowing them to continue their education parallelly at another school when they move,” said Vaishali Bafna from Pune-based think tank System Correction Movement (SYSCOM).
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