Rise in pupils not attending school by 5.5%

Naina Mishra 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 17

The percentage of children out of school in Chandigarh has increased by 5.5 per cent as compared to last year, reveals the child-mapping survey-2018 conducted by the UT Education Department.

The survey revealed that 6,575 children in the age group of 5-18 years have been identified as out of school. Of these 3,406 ((1,817 boys and 1,589 girls) are dropouts and 3,169 children are never enrolled in schools. 

Also, 2,414 schoolchildren in the 14-18 years of age group have dropped out of school. 

Last year, as many as 6,209 children were identified as dropouts (3,404) and never enrolled (2,805). 

11,243 students in unrecognised schools

Nearly 11,243 students have been identified as studying in unrecognised schools. There are more than 60 unrecognised schools in the city. The office of the District Education Officer has to provide recognition certificates to these schools after inspection of certain requirements, including infrastructure compulsory under the Right to Education Act (RTE).

Also, around 347 children with disability, migration and sparse population between the age group of five and 18 years are identified that require special/residential facilities. There are 687 children with special needs (CWSN) and 88,633 students, who belong to economically weaker section (EWS) category, in the city.

More Hindi speakers than Punjabi

The survey further revealed that around 1,98,565 children have Hindi as their mother tongue, whereas 25,043 children are identified with Punjabi as their mother tongue. Around 616 children are Urdu speakers and 3,207 speak other languages.

The total population surveyed was 8,02,168. The survey was carried out under the Right to Education (RTE) Section 10 that mandates ‘maintenance of records of children by the local authority’. Every year, a consolidated report is prepared by the Education Department so that private schools can track EWS children in the clusters surveyed. 

3,000 children involved in petty crime

A Delhi-based NGO, along with the UT police, surveyed around 22,000 kids from six various parts of the city out of which around 3,000 were found to be indulged in petty crime or drug abuse. The police will impart skill development training to these kids in a phased manner.