Hyderabad News: 16,000 children out of school
Hyderabad: A shocking revelation has come to light highlighting the appalling state of school education in the state. More than 16,000 children are out of school during the academic year 2023-24. This was revealed in a comprehensive survey on out-of-school children (OOSC) conducted by the School Education Department this year. In the survey conducted in 33 districts, 11,405 children at the primary level and 5,278 children at the secondary level were out of school, which rang alarm bells in the department and interventions were immediately initiated to enroll them in schools. These figures also include children from migrant families in the state. Children in the age group of 6-14 years are considered out of school if they have not completed elementary education – either they never enrolled in school or dropped out without completing elementary education. A primary school student who remains absent for more than a month will also be considered out of school.
Talking about the primary level, Jogulamba Gadwal district topped the 33 districts with 956 OOSC. And Siddipet district has the highest number of OOSCs, i.e. 398 at the secondary level. Hyderabad has 553 children at the primary level and 21 at the secondary level who are out of school. According to sources, the reasons for this trend include financial difficulties of the family, which leads to their children prioritising work over their education. With Prof. Jaishankar Badi Bata, the state is carrying out an admission drive for the academic year 2024-25 to increase enrolment and strengthen government and local body schools, the department has focused on enrolment of OOSCs in schools. With the help of Amma Adarsh Pathshala committees, government and local body schools have been directed to identify children of school age and OOSCs, dropouts, never enrolled and chronic absentees and prepare an action plan to enrol them in schools. Additionally, schools were asked to prepare the necessary academic interventions for OOSCs.
