DHARMAPURI: Officials from the Dharmapuri School Education Department and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) are working to enroll 600 school dropout students back into school.
As per the SSA data, in the 2024-25 academic year, a total of 3,538 students have been identified as Out of School Children (OoSC). However, through the efforts of the school education department, over 2,607 students have been enrolled in schools.
SSA staff said, “During the start of every academic year after schools have begun, the SSA looks into the number of children who have dropped out of school. Following this, using the EMIS portal, which holds the student’s identity, we identify the students and conduct a campaign to re-enroll them in schools. We identify the challenges of each student and make efforts to ensure that their education is not disrupted.”
Explaining about OoSC survey, they said, “Usually we conduct a door-to-door campaign using Block Resource Teacher Educators (BRTE), school headmasters, and cover all the areas to identify those children who are not enrolled to school, especially those with disabilities and children of migrant workers.”
I Jyothichandra, Chief Education Officer, said, “Of the 3,538 students we have enrolled over 2,607 students. Among them, 870 were admitted to schools, 510 have completed their Class 12, and 866 were duplicate entries, which means students transferring schools without TC, (a provision brought during the Covid-19 pandemic).
The remaining 361 students are out of school and have enrolled in diploma courses like catering, tailoring, industrial schools, vocation courses, or Mararasa and other religious schools.”
She added, “As for non-target students, we have identified 331 students and among them, 300 students have migrated to other states or countries. The remaining 31 are either underage children or kids who died of sudden cause.”
“Among the 600 students who are yet to be admitted, over 518 students have migrated to other districts and enrolled in schools there. The remaining 82 students include students with special needs like child marriage cases, children affected by major diseases, or lack of proper guardianship among others. We are working with various departments to enroll these children.”