Out-Of-School Down To 13.4 Million: HRD

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) The number of out-of-school children has come down from 44 million in 2001 to 13.4 million in 2005, the Human Resource Development Ministry said today.

The drop out rate in primary classes decreasing 0.5 per cent a year since 1960s, showed a steeper 7.67 per cent decline in the first two years of the Tenth Plan and was at 31.36 per cent in 2003-04, an HRD Ministry statement said.

The 11.4 per cent reduction in girls' dropout rate has been greater than 4.7 per cent reduction recorded for boys, it said.

The elementary level-- classes I to VIII-- dropout rate remains high at 52.22 per cent, the statement acknowledged.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is the principal programme for universalisation of elementary education and aims to provide useful and relevant education for 6-to-14-year-olds by 2010.

The Tenth Plan goals are to achieve Universal Access, Universal Enrolment, Universal Retention, Universal Achievement and Equity.

This entails: -- Giving all 6-to-14-year-olds access to primary or alternative schools within a walking distance of one km and three km respectively; -- Enrolling all children-- including girls, disabled and Scheduled castes and tribes-- in primary classes; -- Attaining Universal retention in primary school and cutting grade VI-VIII dropout rates to less than 10 per cent by 2007; -- Emphasising quality education; -- Bridging all gender and social gaps in enrolment, retention and learning achievement.

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