School dropouts• • •serious Issue

. Caste-based discrimination and insensitivity ensure thatchildren from diverse social and linguistic backgrounds arepushed out of school, says SE~MA RAJPUT

There are 6.21 crore chil-dren out of school inIndia according to the

Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment's 2014Educational Statistic. Report.However, figures derived fromthe 2011 Census are muchhigher. Even after seven yearsof the Right to Education Act2009 that commits India touniversal enrollment and'retention of all children, a statelike Uttar Pradesh still lacks adefinition for school dropout.States that have a definition,lack the mechanism to identi-fy those at risk of droppingout. Even with these datagaps, the dropout rate in Indiais 19.8 per cent and 36.3 pefcent at primary and elemen-tary levels respectively. Thehighest proportion of dropouts at elementary level con-sists dalits and adivasis -38.8 per cent and 48.2 per centrespectively. This reflectsIndia's unequal education sys-tem where poorest quality ofschools are provided to India'spoor, and where aste baseddiscrimination and insensitiv-ity ensure that children fromdiverse social and linguisticbackgrounds are pushed out ofschool.

There can be no qualitywithout equity. While the pres-ence of a motivated, profession-ally trained teacher is recog-nised as the most critical pre-requisite for the education of achild, India experiences a short-age of 9 lakh teachers, andmany more need training. Lackof safe and secure environmentin schools, especially for girls,absence of separate functional

toilets along with discrimina- .tor ypractices in classrooms andduring mid-day meals pushmore children out from school.

At the community level,child labour and early mar-riage act as barriers to educa-tion. Many states lack sustain-able mechanisms to retainmigrant children during sea-sonal migration. The absenceof functional creches oranganwadis leads to increasedgirls' dropouts as they areengaged in sibling care.

In this scenario, what hasnot helped is when- govern-ments close schools with smallenrollments in the name of"rationalisation", as many ofthese frequently cater to dalitand adivasi communities.Mass closure of governmentschools in states such asRajasthan, Chhattisgarh,Odisha, West Bengal,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Gujarat and Punjab have con-tributed to dropouts, particu-larly among girls.

While the problem is big,it's not insurmountable andthus, a need \0 formulate waysto check drop out of childrenfrom schools in rural andurban areas. A wealth of expe-rience has accumulated in thecountry. in terms of whatworks for bringing childreninto school. Quality and equi-ty need to go hand in handwith enhanced quality in gov-ernment schools to attractout of school children toreturn to schools that hadpushed them out. And the sys-tem needs to ensure that allteachers are sensitised to the

learning and psycho-socialneeds of a diverse group ofchildren from marginalised'communities. Teachers' capac-ities must be strengthened tosupport classroom learningand provide individual sup-port to students to enablethem to acquire age appropri-ate competencies and instill thejoy of learning. For this, thereis an urgent need for the sys-tem to understand the nuancesof the provision of the Right toeducation Act on special train-ing for out of school children.State governments must devel-op and adequately fund specif-ic strategies to check and mon-itor drop outs and improveimplementation of specialtraining centres for out ofschool children.

CARE India has beenworking to empower womenand girls from dalit and adivasicommunities and our learn-ings show that intensive invest-ments are required to addressspecific barriers that impedeaccess to quality education forgirls, particularly adolescentgirls. Over the years, in collab-oration with various state gov-ernments, we have main-streamed 8.95 lakh out ofschool girls into age appropri-ate grades. Our experienceshave led us to evolve five key .elements which are non-nego-tiable to implement program-ming for out of school chil-dren. These must be part ofIndia's strategy to enroll out ofschool or at risk of drop outchildren, especially girls.

Pedagogical approach:The processes and methodol-ogy must be holistic, should

address cognitive and psycho-social needs of out of schoolchildren. A fear-free environ-ment and the use oflocallan-guage are essential to attractand keep girls in school. .

Curriculum Design: aspecial "accelerated curricu-lum" is also essential to curbthe drop out rate. Higher orderaspects must also be includedin the curriculum so the girlsnot only acquire informationbut also the soft skills that arenecessary for success in life.

Building leadership skillsin girls is critical to enablethem to confront the chal-lenges that keep them out ofschool, negotiate for their edu-cation and take decisions forthemselves.

Teacher Development:Teachers are critical to the suc-cess of this approach. Theirtraining should not only enablethem to transmit the curricu-lum effectively, but also act asa friend and mentor to thegirls. Teacher training shouldinclude building their aware-ness and understanding ofmarginalisation experiencedby their students.

Monitoring progress ofthe initiative, inclusive ofchild assessment: A processfor tracking the progress of anindividual child is essential tosupport them so that they canattain their full potential.

CommunityInvolvement: There is a simul-taneous need to work with thefamilies and the larger com-munity to support and sustainprogress.(The author is a technical specialist in

education at CARE India)