A survey conducted by panchayats and Mangaluru City Corporation has found 567 pupils aged between seven and 18 years dropped out of schools across Dakshina Kannada district in the academic year 2020-21.
This contrasts with a similar survey conducted by Samagra Shikshana Karnataka (earlier Sarva Shikshana Abhiyana) in 2019-20, which found DK had only 40 school dropouts.
The department of public instruction has managed to bring 157 children back into classrooms and is working on getting the remaining 410 children back into mainstream school fold.
The DPI and zilla panchayats also plan to monitor the situation and cross-check data for any duplications. The rural development and panchayat raj (RDPR) department has directed gram panchayats and municipalities to identify children who have dropped out from school.
Manjula KL, deputy project coordinator, Samagra Shikshana Karnataka, DK, said that during their several month-long survey, they learnt “there were not many dropouts” in the six to 14 years age group. “Our focus is on children aged between 15-16 years, who make up a big number,” she said.
Manjula said the financial crisis due to pandemic, long closure of schools, terminal illness, migration and others were reasons for the high dropouts.
Several students in SSLC and lower classes from north Karnataka who study in DK had left for their hometowns. “They have joined schools in their hometowns but the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS) still shows they are enrolled in DK. We have sorted such duplications,” Manjula said.
The labour department has also lent support to bring dropouts back into the mainstream. “We have shared survey details with the labour department to make sure they are not forced into child labour. We need to trace them and bring them back to school,” said Manjula.
Kumar, CEO, zilla panchayat, DK, said: “We are also trying to gather information on why these children left school.”
