Poor child’s burden

New Delhi, Sept. 3: A report of the comptroller and auditor general on the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan says the primary reason for children in the 6-14 age group not attending school is because they cannot afford it.

Those who manage to defy the odds and make it to school cannot stay there because they find the curriculum and the environment non-conducive, according to the report.

The report says about 36.1 per cent of the 1.5 crore children out of school do not seek admission because their parents are too poor.

It has always been suspected that poverty is one of the reasons that keep children out of school but it was also assumed that the decisive factor was parents’ lack of conviction about the need for education.

But the CAG report indicates that even when parents are willing to send children to school, poverty is standing in the way.

The observations also suggest that a huge number of children are out of the footprint of the government policy to fight illiteracy. Programmes like the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, which mainly spends money on education infrastructure, can be of help to these children only if they become part of the mainstream.

Another 30 per cent do not go to school because their parents do not allow it or they are disabled. Some children do not like going to school but that segment is relatively lower at 16.9 per cent.

The human resource development ministry, however, claims over 93 per cent enrolment under the Abhiyan.

The CAG report says the government is far from getting a grip over the continuing dropout rate. “The percentage of those who were out of school because they had dropped out was higher (54.9 per cent) as compared to those (45.1 per cent) who have never attended school,” it says.

The two states where a large proportion of parents have cited financial inability and unwillingness of the child to go to school are Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While 26.76 per cent households in Bihar have reported that the child does not want to go to school, 27 per cent in Uttar Pradesh have reported the same.

Educationists and activists have been repeatedly pointing out that parents do want to send their children to school but the teachers are failing to deliver for multiple reasons. The curriculum does not connect to the lives of the children. Teachers, even when they are present, are ineffective in their teaching.

The situation seems to be at its worst among tribals and the socio-economically deprived sections. The report says the proportion of out-of-school children is highest among scheduled tribes (119 per 1,000), followed by scheduled castes (89 per 1,000 ) and other backward classes (47 per 1,000).

The reasons for dropping out of school vary from losing interest to being beaten up. “The main reasons for children not liking to go to school were teachers beating them up, boring school activities and inability to cope,” the report points out.