Survey begins to check number of school dropouts

MYSORE: The rise in the number of school dropouts has become a major concern for education officials. In order to ascertain the reasons for that, the education authorities will conduct a two-day census from Wednesday.
Speaking on the survey, Chandra Patil, deputy project co-ordinator of Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan, said that Mysore district has about 3,157 schools, teaching 4,53,401 students.The survey aims at clearing the doubts raised during the 2010-11 survey done by District Information Education System (DIES). According to the survey, there were 2,506 dropouts, while it is 8,000 according to DIES survey. The proposed survey will try to cross-check and address the concerns.
The survey will be done at two levels: school- and household-level. It will also be bifurcated into vulnerable and non-vulnerable: the first is for schools having over 50 dropouts, while the other is for schools with dropouts less than 50. A team of four members, including two teachers, one NGO member and a person from an other department will be deputed to survey a cluster of 10-15 schools. There are 178 clusters in the district.
According to a survey done in 2010-11, Mysore North reported maximum number of dropouts in the district. "People in the area, which has many slums, need awareness on education. Lack of awareness results in more students dropping out," Patil claimed.
The household survey will be done by a two-member team.
Patil said: "There are more boy dropouts in urban areas, while girls outnumber boys in rural areas. Boys work at workshops, garages, hotels, etc, so they can support their families. But girls are made to quit after completion of middle school, so they can look after household chores."
The survey will be conducted throughout the state, he added.