92,000 dropouts in HRD Minister’s district

Visakhapatnam: A large number of children are dropping out of schools for various reasons in spite of the government is striving to increase the literacy rate. The home district of HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao has recorded 92,000 dropouts till January first week this year. Interestingly, around 8,000 girls stopped going to schools in 11 mandals of the Agency.

Highlights:

• 8,000 girls in Agency area
• School going age students in Vizag city 6,21,000
• Total number of schools 5,311

All the girls are below the age of 14 years. This is despite the district having several universities both the Central and state. The dropped-out boys are being converted into child labour and found in canteens, wayside hotels, mechanic shops and taking odd errands. The girls are also being used as workforce and half of them are being married off at a tender age.

According to Smart Pulse survey (Praja Sadikara survey) in Visakhapatnam district, 92,000 children dropped-out due to lack of schools, parents migration to other states in search of livelihood, closure of schools in the name of rationalisation and lack of interest among the teachers.

As per the survey, 8 000 girls dropped-out of school due to lack of transportation as they live in remote villages and due to lack of security. Many are also staying back for not having proper clothes and foot wear. In many cases where parents leave for work, the elder girls are asked to take care of younger children.

The dropout statistics have been confirmed by T Sivaram Prasad, project officer of Rajiv Vidya Mission.“I want to study more but my parents are not willing to send me to the hostel as my village is far off,’’ said Kondamma, 14 year old girl in Paderu mandal.

Another Kalavathi (13) said she dropped-out as she was weak in mathematics and teacher was not interested in her improvement.“I feel shy to put my thumb impression while collecting monthly ration at Anganwadi centre as many are asking why I did not enroll in a school,’’ she said.

Many girls are not able to grasp fifth standard lessons as the standard of teaching was very poor in the schools. For this reason alone many are opting out of school. Keeping in view these hurdles, the government has set up Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), a scheme launched for bringing back dropouts into schools. Similarly, residential schools were set up for girls at upper primary level belonging to the SC, ST and OBCs. Around 2,200 dropouts have been enrolled in 11 KGVB Schools.

However, no efforts have been made to enrol the remaining 8,000 girls in the Agency. “We started 115 non-residential training centres for the dropout children with the support of volunteers, 48 residential centres in 14 mandals are ready to start for the needy and street children who are identified by Childline and NGOs. The government also deputed special staff for reducing the number of dropouts,’’ Sivaram Prasad said.

By Jatlee Dontala