The Hindu 20.12.2009
Chennai Corporation to study school dropout
Staff Reporter
Around 1,200 dropouts below 14 years of age
Sample survey shows 400 dropouts in Zone 1
CHENNAI: A detailed survey of school dropout will be conducted by Chennai Corporation in all its 10 zones.
This was decided after a meeting of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan’s district-level committee on Friday.
A senior official of the civic body said a sample survey conducted in Zone 1 (Tondiarpet) a couple of months ago found 400 children to be out of school. “In response to our tender, several private agencies have submitted proposals for conducting the survey. We are evaluating the proposals. Our non-teaching staff would also take part in the survey,” the official said.
Based on the findings of the survey, the Corporation would decide on the strategies required to reduce the dropout rate and measures to bring more children into the schooling system.
A district-level official of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) said that their surveys since March this year showed that around 1,200 children below the age of 14 had dropped out of school. “The figure includes around 200 children identified in the sample survey in Zone 1. As the children have stopped going to school due to some reason, we are first putting them through classes conducted by Educational Volunteers (EV),” the SSA official said.
During the sample survey, nearly 500 children were covered, of which 200 were found to be child labourers. They are being rehabilitated separately. The SSA took in about 200 children and the remaining were found to be either above 14 years of age or were studying in school.
