Bhubaneswar: In a bid to achieve education for all, the Odisha government has decided to waive admission as well as examination fees for dropout and out-of-school children aged between 14 and 18 years.
Sources said the benefit will apply to students seeking admission to the State Institute of Open Schooling. The School and Mass Education Department has issued an official notification to implement the decision.
The decision comes amid growing concern over school dropouts in the state. Recently, the School and Mass Education Department directed its field staff to closely monitor student attendance at the elementary level. Students who remain absent from school for a week or more are to be tracked through home visits as part of the plan.
District and block education officers have been asked to ensure that headmasters, teachers and members of school management committees visit the homes of such students. The objective is to understand the reasons behind prolonged absence and take corrective steps to prevent permanent dropouts.
High dropout rates have remained a persistent challenge for Odisha. A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India highlighted that dropout rates from Class II to Class XII ranged between 3.12 per cent and 7.26 per cent during the period from 2018 to 2023.
The audit report also pointed out that more than 61,000 children aged six to 18 years could not be brought back into the formal education system in the state over five years.
