Parliament Question: Accessibility of schools to disadvantaged children

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO – 1314 ANSWERED ON 11/02/2026 Accessibility of schools to disadvantaged children 1314 # Shri Neeraj Dangi: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has any data regarding children from socially and economically disadvantaged groups belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes not attending schools, if so, the details thereof, State-wise; (b) whether any information has been gathered regarding the reasons for children from these communities not attending school, if so, the manner in which Government is addressing this issue; (c) whether the lack of facilities in the education schemes run by Government is the major reason; and (d) if so, the efforts being made by Government to make education accessible to the disadvantaged group? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a): As per UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) 2024-25, State/UT-wise Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) for the year 2024- 25 is available at https://www.education.gov.in/en/parl_ques. (b) to (d): As per report titled ‘Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)’ for the year 2023-24 released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the major reasons for the students who never attended the schools are to supplement household income, to attend domestic chores, education not considered necessary, etc. Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education is implementing the scheme of Samagra Shiksha for universalization of quality education throughout the country in coordination with the States and UTs. Bridging gender and social gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the Samagra Shiksha. Under Samagra Shiksha, various facilities are being provided for promoting girls education. These include opening of schools in the neighbourhood as defined by the State, free uniform and text-books to girls up to Class VIII, provision of gender segregated toilets in all schools, provision of self-defence training to girls from classes VI to XII, stipend to CWSN girls from class I to Class XII, among others, special State specific projects for equity such as life skills, awareness programmes, incinerators, sanitary pad vending machines etc., and vocationalization of secondary education. In addition, to increase the enrolment of Girls at all levels of school education, under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in the Educationally Backward Blocks where rural female literacy rate is below the national average. KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL).The Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) targeting the development of 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) through 11 critical interventions and Dharti Aaba Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) comprises of 25 interventions implemented by 17 line Ministries and aims to holistic socio-economic development of tribal communities by saturation of infrastructural & human development gaps in ST majority villages or those in Aspirational districts. Under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance/grant is provided to the States and UTs for construction of hostels under PM-JANMAN and DAJGUA. Also, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) is implementing the Central Sector Scheme of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) to provide quality education to the tribal children (from class VI to XII) in their own environment from the year 2018-19. The Pre-Matric and Post-Matric scholarship schemes for SC, ST, OBC and minority are Centrally Sponsored schemes being implemented by States and UTs and administered by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs. Under these scholarship schemes, the benefits are extended to all the students, including students belonging to SC, ST and OBC, subject to their parental income ceiling and as per scheme guidelines. ******