A survey conducted by the education and literacy department in Belgaum has indicated a worrisome pattern, with 217 children aged 6 to 18 discontinuing their education in the ongoing academic year. The yearly door-to-door enrollment campaigns led by teachers have drawn awareness to this matter, emphasizing the necessity for interventions to tackle the dropout rate in the district.
In the previous instance, the school education department conducted a survey involving children aged 6 to 14. The findings revealed that 108 children, 29 in the Chikodi educational district and 79 in the Belgaum educational district, were not attending school.
In the current survey, children aged 6 to 18 were examined, revealing that a combined total of 217 children from the two districts are not attending school. Notably, the prevalence of out-of-school children is greater in rural areas compared to urban areas. Specifically, 114 children from Belgaum and 103 children from the Chikkodi education district are currently out of school, having been enrolled but remaining absent. The age group between 14 and 15 is particularly prone to school dropout. The percentage of girls is more than that of boys.
In the Belagavi educational district, the highest dropout numbers occur in Ramdurg and Khanapur zones, both with 25 children. Additionally, Belagavi Rural has 23, Kittur and Bailhongal report 11 each, Belagavi Urban has 13, and Savadatti has 6 dropouts.
The primary cause for children leaving school is migration, where parents relocate to other states in search of employment, particularly driven by drought conditions. Some families have shifted to Goa and Maharashtra for livelihood opportunities. Additionally, factors such as parental apathy towards education, children being engaged in household chores, and assuming family management responsibilities at a young age significantly contribute to the problem. Moreover, the increasing incidence of child marriages is leading to a rise in girls discontinuing their education.
Mohankumar Hanchate, Chikodi DDPI and Acting Belagavi DDPI, emphasized that the education department of the relevant state should take responsibility for the schooling of children from migrant worker families across Karnataka. Presently, six mobile schools have been established in the Chikodi zone to cater to the children of sugarcane cutters who migrated from Maharashtra with their parents. Hanchate stressed the need for other states to prioritize the education of migrant workers’ children. Nonetheless, he asserted that no child would be permitted to stay out of school.
