Maharashtra Govt Launches 15-Day 'Mission Zero Dropout' campaign - Details Here

The Maharashtra school education department on Thursday, June 23, announced the launch of ‘Mission Zero Dropout’ campaign. The purpose of this initiative is bring the children back to learning as now schools have resumed offline fully.

This development comes with a rise in the students dropping out of formal education because of various reasons during the two years of pandemic-induced shutdown of schools.

Tweeting about the initiative, state School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad wrote, “To uphold every child’s right to education, all of us should strive for zero tolerance against school dropouts. Our school education department wants to ensure that no child is bereft of education. We are therefore launching Mission Zero Drop Out to get them back to school.”

To uphold every child's Right to Education, all of us should strive for zero tolerance against school drop outs. Our school education department wants to ensure that no child is bereft of education. We are therefore launching #MissionZeroDropOut to get them back to school. pic.twitter.com/mwstxx4ddk

— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) June 23, 2022

According to the circular, 15-day campaign which is expected to take place from July 5 to 20 to identify dropouts, migrant children and those not attending schools regularly.

For this, committees will be set up at state and district levels to track down families that have children in the 3-18 age group not attending schools. It will also include those with special needs are the targeted beneficiaries of this campaign.

For the first time, the department has sought participation from various sections of the government — from women and child development, social welfare and justice to even revenue, tribal and minority departments — in the campaign.

The data will be collected on a centralised platform — a dedicated online portal which has to be created and managed by the office of the director of education. Special enrolment drives will be held so that these children are given age-appropriate admissions to nearby schools.

Teachers are likely to be roped in to survey construction sites, public places, brick kilns, and factories, and identity children who are missing out on schooling.