New Delhi (NVI): In order to ensure that migrant children have access to proper education, especially in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Education has issued guidelines for identification, admission and continued education of such children.
“In order to mitigate the impact of challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic for out of school children, it was felt necessary for every State/UT to devise a proper strategy for preventing increased dropouts, lower enrolments, loss of learning and deterioration in the gains made in providing universal access, quality and equity in the recent years, the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
The Ministry has issued guidelines to make sure that school-going children have access to education with quality and equity and to minimise the impact of the pandemic on school education across the country.
In this regard, the Ministry has prepared and issued detailed guidelines on steps to be taken by the States and UTs during school closure and when the school re-open.
As per the guidelines, focus has been laid on continued education for Out of School Children (OoSC) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN)
States and UTs have been asked to carry out proper identification of OoSC for 6 to 18 years age group through a comprehensive door-to-door survey and prepare action plan for their enrolment.
Apart from that, enrolment drives may be undertaken at the beginning of academic year such as Praveshotsav, School Chalo Abhiyan etc. The States and UT’s may undertake awareness generation among parents and community for enrolling and attendance of children.
They have also been asked to create awareness on practicing three Corona appropriate behaviors – wear mask, six-feet distance and washing hands with soap for which IEC material was shared on November 6 with the States and UTs, the Ministry said.
In addition to this, migrant students will be provided support including counseling, large scale awareness and targeted home visits. To support home-based education, distribution of educational material and resources, supplementary graded material, workshops, worksheets etc has been advised.
The States/UTs may also take measures to increasing the access of children to online/digital resources, TV Radio etc., to reduce learning loss.
Steps may also be taken towards preparation and running of school readiness modules/bridge course for initial period when the schools re-open so that they (migrant children) can adjust to the school environment and do not feel stressed or left-out.
The Ministry has also instructed States and UTs to take steps for teacher capacity building. In this direction, effective utilisation of online NISHTHA training modules and online training module for Corona responsive behavior is to be launched on DIKSHA portal soon. Use of alternative Academic Calendar prepared by NCERT for joyful engagement of children in learning is also recommended.
-ARK
