The Hindu

Mangalore, Feb 27: Over 46 per cent of the out-of-school children in the district are Muslims, according to the latest child census report compiled as part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

The report states that 149 children between six and 14 years are out of school in the district. Of them, 69 Muslim children — 31 girls and 38 boys — are out of school, including 44 who have not been admitted to any school so far.

In Mangalore rural educational block alone there are 25 boys and 16 girls who are out of school. The jurisdictional Block Education Officer, Moses Jayashekar, said that all efforts would be made to bring these children into the education system. “A majority of these children are young and will fit into the formal system easily,” he added.

According to the census figures, all the 44 Muslim children who have never been to a school are between seven and eight years of age. There are only 20 children belonging to the Scheduled Castes — 12 boys and eight girls — who have not been admitted to any school.

Block-wise figures

In the block-wise comparisons as well, Mangalore Rural has 44 per cent of the out-of-school children. Sullia and Bantwal blocks come a close second and third with 26.1 and 26.7 per cent children respectively remaining out of school.

In all, 50,237 children between six and 14 joined schools during the current academic year. Another 1,926 children will attain schooling age by next year.

A senior officer of the SSA said that a new drive to bring children into schools would begin once a qualitative compilation of the census data was ready. This data would have specific details about each child, including their socio-economic background and other impediments to education, if any. This data would help the project officers of the SSA in customising the schooling plan to suit the needs of every child, he said.