Data tabled by the Union Government in the Lok Sabha on Monday shows thatGujarathas the third highest number of ‘out of school children’ (OoSC) at the elementary level. The only two states that have higherOoSCnumbers areUttar PradeshandBihar.
In reply to a written question, the Union minister of state for Education said that according to thePrabandhonline portal maintained by the Union government, there are 9,30,531 children in the country who are out of school at the primary level.
While UP has the highest number of OoSC at 3,96,665, Bihar is second with 1,34,252. Gujarat ranks third with 1,06,885 children not admitted in any primary class.Under the Samagra Shiksha scheme of the Union government, all states and union territories (UTs) need to conduct household surveys for identification of OoSC. The department of school education and Literacy has developed an online module for compiling data on OoSCs identified by each state and UT on the PRABANDH portal.