A survey conducted by the state government in July 2015 has revealed that 74,971 children were out of school in Maharashtra.
Education minister Vinod Tawde assured the Assembly that most of these children have been enrolled in schools now and given education guarantee cards which would help monitor their attendance.
“We have found 74,971 out-of-school children in the state. The survey was conducted last year on July 21. The students have been enrolled in nearby schools under the Right to Education Act. We have also given them education guarantee cards which will help monitor them and ensure they continue going to schools,” Mr Tawde said, while replying to a query in the Assembly.
Elaborating on the card, Mr Tawde said that it would help the students to get admission into other schools in case of migration and also keep track of their progress. The state will periodically conduct this survey to ensure all children get enrolled, he added. The minister further said that children absent for more than 30 days at a stretch would be considered as out-of-school students.
The minister also said schools having less than 20 students would not be closed down, as some of the MLAs were apprehensive about shutting down of schools. MLAs Harshwardhan Sakpal, Ranajajitsingh Patil, Yashomati Thakur, Virendra Jagtap, Vijay Vadettiwar and Ameen Patel raised the issue and asked Mr Tawde to give details of the survey. They pointed out discrepancies in the number of out-of-school students revealed by the state government and NGOs.
The state had conducted the survey of all children in the age group between 6 and 14 years in July last year to ensure that all children get enrolled in schools as per the Right to Education Act. However, controversies erupted after a few NGOs came up with different figures for children who were out of school.
