BENGALURU: The number of children staying out of school in the state has decreased this year, compared to previous years. As per the survey report released by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on Out-of-School Children (OSS), 6,803 kids were identified to be out of school.
Compared to previous year, this number has come down by 586. During 2017-18, the out-of-school children identified in the survey was 7,389 and in 2018-19, this number has come down to 6,803.
A look at the district-wise data reveals that Gulbarga district has the highest number of children staying out of school at 984, followed by Bengaluru with 905, and Bellary with 638. Kodagu has the least number of children staying away from schools where the number is 20, followed by Tumkur with 32 children.
But surprisingly, in 2017-18, there were no out-of-school children identified. Ballari had the highest number of out-of-school children. This time, Kalaburagi sees the highest number.
According to Sarva Siksha Abhiyan officials, this survey is conducted in December every year to ascertain the total number of out-of-school children across the state.
Meanwhile, the state department of public instruction has set aside over `8 crore to bring these out-of-school children to the mainstream. "Not just those who were identified this year, we even need to train and bring those who were identified as out-of-school even during 2017-18 academic year to the mainstream," said a senior official of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.
The department is submitting a request to the Union government seeking funds to bring these kids to the mainstream. "We need funds under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to bring these children to mainstream by training them, so we are submitting a request to the central government seeking funds," explained an official.