<p>Over 10.12 lakh children were either out of school or not enrolled in anganwadis as per Karnataka’s latest household survey data of all children from zero to 18 years. These figures have been submitted to the Karnataka High Court in the on-going <span class="italic">suo motu</span> PIL (WP 15768/2013). According to the survey, almost 9 lakh children aged zero to six years were not registered in anganwadis; and 25,356 children aged between six and 14 were out of school as of June 2022. </p>.<p>It is shocking that this survey, ordered by former CJ Abhay S Oka in March 2020, has been done for the first time now, though it should have been done each year since the Right to Education (RTE) Rules were passed in 2012. RTE Rule 6 requires every local authority (Gram Panchayat and municipality) to maintain and update such records of children in their areas and use that data to ensure all children are in school. </p>.<p>The survey figures, however, raise serious doubts about their accuracy. At a training session for officials in Mandya, it was brought to light that a water-man had conducted the survey in some areas and he had included even adults who had dropped out decades ago, as current drop-outs!</p>.<p>Further scepticism arises as there is no coherence between the survey figures and children’s population data and the data on out-of-school children (OOSC). A total of 1.42 crore households were surveyed and 66.68 lakh children in the age group 0-18 years were identified. This number appears to be a gross under-estimation as it implies that there is only one child for every 2.4 households. Has our state’s fertility gone so much below the replacement rate? The official District Information System for Education (DISE) data available on the education department’s website also shows 1.03 crore children enrolled from Grade 1 to Grade 10 in the year 2018-19. So, which of the figures is to be taken as the official figure of total children? One crore -plus or 66.68 lakh? There will be serious implications for planning if lakhs of children have not been enumerated in the survey.</p>.<p>As per the survey, the total number of OOSC was 25,356. But there are 3.6 lakh missing children between grades 1 and 8 in the DISE data. Is it not a grave injustice to lakhs of OOSC children’s Right to Education if we now say that they do not exist? How could there be so many OOSC if Karnataka’s ‘preventive protocol’ introduced through addition of Rules 6A to 6D to the RTE Rules in 2014, as a result of this PIL, was being properly implemented? The survey shows that 740 children have remained out of school due to the ‘unwillingness of parents’. This shows that Rule 6D, which requires all such children to be taken charge of within a timeframe by the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) under the Juvenile Justice Act and admitted into free government residential schools or fit institutions, is not being implemented effectively even eight years after this Rule was passed.</p>.<p>Pointing to the lack of training for eight years for CWCs, Gram Panchayats and municipal committees, etc., in Rule 6 and its amendments, CJ Oka had directed in July 2019 that “immediate steps shall be taken to give training to various authorities at local level”. The first trainings have been initiated only now. </p>.<p>Though a “Policy on education of migrant children” was developed in 2016 with civil society involvement as directed by the HC, it was placed before the cabinet for approval only after CJ Oka’s fresh directive to implement it in December 2019. Though a beginning has been made, concerned departments are yet to come up with specific action plans for its implementation. </p>.<p>CJ Oka also asked the state to ensure quality education by fulfilling the infrastructure norms in all schools as per the RTE Act. But officials say that “fulfilling RTE norms in all schools is a gradual and on-going process”. When the RTE Act required the norms to be met within three years of the Act coming into force, this stand of the officials was unacceptable. The government needs to provide a list of schools not fulfilling the RTE norms, fix a time-frame for their fulfilment and allocate the required budget for meeting them. </p>.<p>On the survey figure of almost 9 lakh children not being enrolled in anganwadis, the government has submitted a proposal to the Centre to fund 4,244 fresh anganwadis, which can cater to a maximum of 1,69,760 children, out of the 9-lakh OOSCs, at the rate of 40 children per anganwadi. What of other children? There is also no proposal to upgrade anganwadis to day-care centres, as per an SC order.</p>.<p>Given the scepticism about the survey and DISE data, there is a need to conduct the Third-Party Evaluation of enrolment and OOSC data as directed by the HC, which had also been accepted by the government.</p>.<p>(The writer is Executive Trustee of CIVIC Bangalore.)</p>
<p>Over 10.12 lakh children were either out of school or not enrolled in anganwadis as per Karnataka’s latest household survey data of all children from zero to 18 years. These figures have been submitted to the Karnataka High Court in the on-going <span class="italic">suo motu</span> PIL (WP 15768/2013). According to the survey, almost 9 lakh children aged zero to six years were not registered in anganwadis; and 25,356 children aged between six and 14 were out of school as of June 2022. </p>.<p>It is shocking that this survey, ordered by former CJ Abhay S Oka in March 2020, has been done for the first time now, though it should have been done each year since the Right to Education (RTE) Rules were passed in 2012. RTE Rule 6 requires every local authority (Gram Panchayat and municipality) to maintain and update such records of children in their areas and use that data to ensure all children are in school. </p>.<p>The survey figures, however, raise serious doubts about their accuracy. At a training session for officials in Mandya, it was brought to light that a water-man had conducted the survey in some areas and he had included even adults who had dropped out decades ago, as current drop-outs!</p>.<p>Further scepticism arises as there is no coherence between the survey figures and children’s population data and the data on out-of-school children (OOSC). A total of 1.42 crore households were surveyed and 66.68 lakh children in the age group 0-18 years were identified. This number appears to be a gross under-estimation as it implies that there is only one child for every 2.4 households. Has our state’s fertility gone so much below the replacement rate? The official District Information System for Education (DISE) data available on the education department’s website also shows 1.03 crore children enrolled from Grade 1 to Grade 10 in the year 2018-19. So, which of the figures is to be taken as the official figure of total children? One crore -plus or 66.68 lakh? There will be serious implications for planning if lakhs of children have not been enumerated in the survey.</p>.<p>As per the survey, the total number of OOSC was 25,356. But there are 3.6 lakh missing children between grades 1 and 8 in the DISE data. Is it not a grave injustice to lakhs of OOSC children’s Right to Education if we now say that they do not exist? How could there be so many OOSC if Karnataka’s ‘preventive protocol’ introduced through addition of Rules 6A to 6D to the RTE Rules in 2014, as a result of this PIL, was being properly implemented? The survey shows that 740 children have remained out of school due to the ‘unwillingness of parents’. This shows that Rule 6D, which requires all such children to be taken charge of within a timeframe by the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) under the Juvenile Justice Act and admitted into free government residential schools or fit institutions, is not being implemented effectively even eight years after this Rule was passed.</p>.<p>Pointing to the lack of training for eight years for CWCs, Gram Panchayats and municipal committees, etc., in Rule 6 and its amendments, CJ Oka had directed in July 2019 that “immediate steps shall be taken to give training to various authorities at local level”. The first trainings have been initiated only now. </p>.<p>Though a “Policy on education of migrant children” was developed in 2016 with civil society involvement as directed by the HC, it was placed before the cabinet for approval only after CJ Oka’s fresh directive to implement it in December 2019. Though a beginning has been made, concerned departments are yet to come up with specific action plans for its implementation. </p>.<p>CJ Oka also asked the state to ensure quality education by fulfilling the infrastructure norms in all schools as per the RTE Act. But officials say that “fulfilling RTE norms in all schools is a gradual and on-going process”. When the RTE Act required the norms to be met within three years of the Act coming into force, this stand of the officials was unacceptable. The government needs to provide a list of schools not fulfilling the RTE norms, fix a time-frame for their fulfilment and allocate the required budget for meeting them. </p>.<p>On the survey figure of almost 9 lakh children not being enrolled in anganwadis, the government has submitted a proposal to the Centre to fund 4,244 fresh anganwadis, which can cater to a maximum of 1,69,760 children, out of the 9-lakh OOSCs, at the rate of 40 children per anganwadi. What of other children? There is also no proposal to upgrade anganwadis to day-care centres, as per an SC order.</p>.<p>Given the scepticism about the survey and DISE data, there is a need to conduct the Third-Party Evaluation of enrolment and OOSC data as directed by the HC, which had also been accepted by the government.</p>.<p>(The writer is Executive Trustee of CIVIC Bangalore.)</p>