Checking school dropouts: U.P. delegation to visit Netherlands for studying ‘early warning system’

3.30 lakh students (6-14 years) were out of school in 2022-23 in the state, as per a basic education department survey

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3.30 lakh students (6-14 years) were out of school in 2022-23 in the state, as per a basic education department survey (Pic for representation)

A 12-member delegation under state’s basic education minister Sandeep Singh would visit Netherlands from March 28 to study their ‘early warning system’ that has been developed to check school drop outs.

U.P. is likely to implement the system by the end of this year and if that happens it will be the first time such a system is implemented in the country.

“In Netherlands a student is tracked by the authorities if the student is absent for more than 40 days. Their parents are contacted to find the reason for the student missing school. After this, a team is formed to bring the students back in schools. It is believed that this system could be helpful in cutting school drop outs. If implemented, U.P. will become India’s first state to adopt the early warning system,” said director general, school education, Vijay Kiran Anand.

The delegation would also include government officials, state and national awardee teachers among others.

Snehil Pandey, a teacher from Composite School, Soharamau, Unnao who received a national award in 2020 and will be part of the delegation to Netherlands said: “This ‘early warning system’ is likely to help the state ensure school dropouts, particularly between 6 to 14 years of age resume school studies. So U.P. too could possibly emulate a similar model here.”

As per a survey by the basic education department, 4.81 lakh children (6-14 years) were found out of school in 2020-21, 4 lakh in 2021-22 and 3.30 lakh students in 2022-23. The state government is working on such a system so that the tracking starts within 40 days of a student missing from school, officials said.

Anchal Pandey, teacher at a school in Bahraich is also going to Netherlands. “The visit will be a huge learning experience. I am really looking forward to this visit. It is so important to learn new things and best practices followed in another country,” said Anchal, recipient of the state award for teachers.

“Parents of children who are continuously absent from school will be encouraged to send them back to school,” said Khursheed Ahmad, a teacher from Deoria. He is also part of the delegation.

The government also plans to run awareness campaigns to encourage parents to send students to school, officials said.