Chandigarh, November 22- In a bid to achieve the state government’s target of zero dropouts, tracking of every child in the age group between 6 to 18 will be done to ensure that any child who is not enrolled in any government or private school, Gurukul, Madrasa, or Kadam School (Special Training Center), etc get an education.
Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal while chairing a key meeting with the officers of the education department here today directed the District Education Officers Officers (DEOs) to start the tracking work, considering the Parivar Pehchan Patra data as a base. Besides this, the Chief Minister directed the officers to ensure that the children attending schools located more than one-kilometre distance get transportation facilities.
“Every child should receive school education; this is the government's primary objective. Children should become good citizens and contribute to nation-building. For this, the ratio of children to teachers should be appropriate,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
The Chief Minister said that the present government is concerned about children's education and their well-being in every way so that their foundation can be strengthened. He said that the officers should also ensure that children do not face difficulties while coming to and going from school.
“For this, the government has formulated a plan. Transportation facilities will be provided for children travelling to and from schools located more than one kilometre away from villages. For this, a teacher in each school should be designated as a School Transport Officer (STO), whose task will be to coordinate with such children who need transportation facilities. Similarly, at the block level, a School Transport Officer (STO) should also be designated to ensure transportation facilities by coordinating with STOs in schools located in the block,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Even children from other states who have enrolled in the state's schools will be issued Aadhar cards
Sh. Manohar Lal, giving directions to the DEOs, said that the data of all students should be continuously updated on the MIS portal. The DEOs apprised the Chief Minister that there are about 3000 children, who do not have Aadhar cards but are presently enrolled in the schools on a provisional basis, and because of the non-availability of Aadhar, their data cannot be updated on MIS.
Taking Cognizance of this, the Chief Minister said that Aadhar cards would be made for children belonging to other states who have enrolled in the state's schools. For this, parents will need to provide a notarized affidavit verifying only the child's date of birth, which the Head Teacher will counter-sign. This document will be submitted to the Additional Deputy Commissioner so that the Aadhar card can be generated, he said.
The Chief Minister said that as per the National Education Policy 2020, the government has converted 4000 Anganwadis into Bal Vatikas to strengthen the foundation of children. Education is being provided to children through play and games. Now, the state government plans that the responsibility for those Bal Vatikas located within the school premises will be with the school so that children can receive better education.
Additional Chief Secretary, School Education Department, Sh. Sudhir Rajpal, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Director General, Secondary Education and Secretary, School Education Department, Smt. Ashima Brar, Director General, Elementary Education, Sh. Rippudaman Singh Dhillon and other officers also remained present on this occasion.