Number of Out-of-School Children has declined in 2014

According to the household survey conducted by States/UTs and reported in their Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) submitted to this Ministry, the number of Out-of-School Children has considerably declined to 17.24 lakh in 2014, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question on Monday.

The Government of India had earlier commissioned two independent surveys to estimate the number of out-of-school children in the country in 2005 and 2009 which shows a decline in the number of out of school children from 134.6 lakh in 2005 to 81.5 lakh in 2009.

NCERT undertook a project on “Development of Guidelines for Special Training of Out-of-School Children under RTE Act” during 2011-12.

" The prime purpose of these Guidelines is to facilitate the state level functionaries working in this area by providing suggestive strategies and understanding on pedagogical processes required for mainstreaming out-of-school children," she said.

In accordance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has directed all the schools affiliated to the Board that they shall admit in class I, to the extent of at least twenty-five per cent of the strength of that class, children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group in the neighborhood and provide free and compulsory elementary education till its completion.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, provides for opening of new schools, additional classrooms and additional teachers.

Further, under SSA, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV), free textbooks to all children from classes I-VII, free uniforms to all girls and children belonging to SC/ST/BPL and special training for out-of-school children to be mainstreamed to age-appropriate classes, are being implemented along with awareness campaigns and local community participation in school management, in order to bring more and more children into the fold of education, she said.