8000 out-of-school children found in Vizag, survey reveals

A total number of 68 lakh school-age children of 1.14 crore households in Andhra Pradesh were identified by the Smart Pulse Survey. The Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE) data survey showed that around 60 Lakh children in AP are attending schools. By comparing both the surveys, a variation of around 8 Lakh school-age children who are not attending schools was found which included 31,000 children from Visakhapatnam.

However, the 8 lakh school-aged children are suspected to be either the ones who are not registered in the U-DISE database or the ones who are studying in the unrecognised schools.

With the possibility of tracing around 70% from the 8 lakh children, it was estimated that 5.6 lakh of them are studying in CBSE, Kendra Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodayas and unrecognised schools. The remaining 8,459 children are from Visakhapatnam who are termed to be “out of school”.

While speaking to TOI, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) official, L Giridhar, said, “ A special enrollment drive will be launched from June 1st to bring all dropouts and out-of-children back to school. The drive is also aimed at increasing the enrollment at government schools. We want to ensure no one out of the 8,459 out-of-school children is left out.”

Credits: Times of India