Assam: Survey of out-of-school children underway; report by August 15

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: In the face of the increasing school dropout rates in the state, the state education department has started a door-to-door survey of out-of-school children. The survey will conclude on August 11, 2025.

 The Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan, Assam, under the Department of School Education, has initiated a comprehensive door-to-door survey to identify out-of-school children (OoSC) across the state. The move comes as part of the government’s concerted efforts to tackle the increasing dropout rates at the secondary level.

The department formed a high-level committee with Krishna Baruah as the chairperson to study the dropout crisis, uncover underlying causes, and propose corrective measures. The committee is to submit its final report by August 15, 2025. To ensure accurate and thorough data collection, all district officials, including ADCs (Education), Inspectors of Schools (IS), District Mission Coordinators (DMC-SSA), District Elementary Education Officers (DEEO), and Block Elementary Education Officers (BEEO), along with Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCCs), have been directed to actively participate in the survey process.

The key directives of the survey include the coverage of children across all levels—pre-primary (Anganwadi), primary (Classes I–V), upper primary (VI–VIII), and secondary/senior secondary. District officials must conduct personal interviews with at least two children from high-dropout areas and upload data to the KOBO (a platform used for field data collection) platform with photos.

Each CRCC must carry out a minimum of ten interviews for each OoSC category: never-enrolled, dropouts, and re-enrolled students. CRCCs are also required to interview head teachers and verify field data with local community leaders such as gaon buras.

As per the data, Assam reported a staggering 25.1 percent dropout rate at the secondary level, 6.2 percent at the primary level, and 8.2 percent at the upper primary level in 2023-24, significantly above the national averages of 1.9 percent (primary), 5.2 percent (upper primary), and 14.1 percent (secondary).

 Also read: Assam's High School Dropout Rates: A Sobering Reality

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