SRIKAKULAM: As many as 4,714 children were found to be out of school in the district. In a survey conducted by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), officials identified the children as dropouts from schools for various reasons. Most of them are children from migrant families. Now, the SSA officials are making plans to bring all of them back to schools. As per the government directions, the SSA conducted a survey from November 24 to December 12. After identifying the dropouts, officials are now planning to conduct a special drive to enrol these children in the nearby schools and hostels, including KGBV schools (for girls).
An effective action plan is being prepared to bring back the children to schools in the 2018-19 academic year, said Muralikrishna, the District Coordinator, Alternative School Education Wing of the SSA.
He also mentioned that as many as 38,958 out-of-school children were identified in the district during the pulse survey conducted in 2016. “Taking a serious note of the issue, the government directed us to conduct a special survey on the dropouts. Accordingly, the SSA conducted the survey and identified that 25,213 out of 38,958 students are studying in various schools in the district and uploaded the data on the Andhra Pradesh Gross Ratio (APGR ) app,” he said.
However, of the remaining 13,745 children, as many as 7,646 were migrated to various districts and states, 2,500 had crossed their school age (14 years), another 601 children were found studying in other districts, 164 were found under age (6 years) and the rest were not traced during the survey. According to the recent direction of the State government, the children who remain away from the schools for 30 days will be treated as out of school children. Based on the directions, the SSA conducted a fresh survey from November 24 to December 12 by engaging 760 employees. Again 4,714 children were found to be out of schools across the district and plans are afoot to bring them to the mainstream education.