BBMP survey finds around 7,000 school dropouts in Bengaluru

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A survey carried out by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanag a r a Palike (BBMP) revealed that around 7,000 out of the total 1.08 lakh children have dropped out of school in Bengaluru. At the end of February, the Education Department of the BBMP initiated the survey in response to reports indicating a rise in the number of school dropouts.

On Tuesday, it was disclosed that 6,936 students out of 1,08,203 had ceased attending school. Joint commissioners from eight zones have been designated as nodal officers for this survey. Under this, ward-wise staff are being assigned in all zones, and the survey is being executed through their efforts. This initiative is in line with the Karnataka Right to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2012, which mandates local bodies to enumerate out-ofschool children. The High Court is currently hearing a case regarding the reintegration of out-of-school children and the issue of their nonenrolment.

The survey is being conducted under the directives of the High Court. Dropouts are enumerated through a mobile app, the ‘Karnataka H2H Children Survey App’ created by the Centre for e-Governance. The Bommanahalli zone has the highest number of dropouts (3,355). The South zone comes in second place with 1,054 dropouts, followed by the Mahadevapura zone (568) and East zone (526).