During Covid-19 pandemic, the education of children from Primary/Middle to High School and further to higher level has suffered badly. However, one of the worst fall-outs in education sphere is schooling of children of six to fourteen years in the rural and remote areas where there is no formal or informal support to keep the learning process intact and continuous.
While there are many dimensions of the school education from primary to high schools attracting the attention of administration, parents and public at large, the Out of School Children (OSC) though to be pursued seriously, is the most neglected aspect of school education in Jammu Kashmir.
The track record of J&K is poor so far its efforts in bringing back to school the drop-outs or those children who never get enrolled in schools.
No doubt, the challenges and strategies for mainstreaming the out-of-school-children across the country are many for India being a diverse country. The varied educational, social and economic dimensions often create a social condition wherein parents are reluctant to enroll their wards in schools. Such conditions lead to drop in school enrollments and enhancements in number of out of school children.
The efforts too are being undertaken at various levels by the Ministry of Education, School Education Department of J&K UT, Smagra Siksha Abhyan and few NGOs but the results are not perceptible and satisfactory. The number of children out of schools is too large and those brought to schools is too small. The biggest flaw in dealing the issue is the lack of real statistical data. The data tabulated on the desks is often far from the ground realities and thus not reliable.
The situation can be gauged from the fact that only two moths back, Smagra Sikha Abhiyan Director, told in a function about three Non-Residential Special Training Centres established in J&K where in 2765 OSC were enrolled and imparted special training by engaging 53 regular Teaching Volunteers. Out of 2765 enrolled children, 1151 children were mainstreamed so far and process of mainstreaming remaining OoSC children is going on.
A child in age group of 6-14 years is considered out of school if he has never been enrolled in an elementary school or if after enrollment has been absent without prior intimation for 45 days or more.
Now, to keep a tab on dropout students and Out of School Children (OoSC), the Ministry of Education (MoE) has suggested the state and UT governments to establish a Control and Command Centre (CCC) for teachers and schools.
The detailed guidelines are given to establish and operate a Control and Command Centre (CCC) for teachers and schools to keep track of enrolled students, learning at home, dropouts and information on child labor mainstreamed.
The teachers should reach the last child in the last mile and also state that the CCC will also help in finding out the status and solution of Out of School Children, textbook delivery and the support required by teachers and schools if the scheme is implemented with all sincerity.
But all these guidelines and schemes can succeed on the ground only if the scheme is pursued and implemented with all dedication and sincerity.
