Guwahati, Oct 2: When a child stops coming to school, the first person to notice is often not a teacher or an official, but a classmate. In Charaideo, the district administration is turning that simple observation into an organised intervention to identify children at risk of dropping out and bring them back into the education system.
Under the pioneering, convergence-driven initiative billed ‘Chirayu Charaideo’, students are being encouraged to look out for classmates who have been absent for prolonged periods and children in their neighbourhood who are not attending school. “Every student is encouraged to report classmates who are absent for prolonged periods or children in the neighbourhood who are not attending school.
Schools maintain regular attendance tracking and peer reporting registers, while CRCCs verify reported cases through home visits and counselling,” Charaideo district commissioner Neha Yadav said. The initiative goes beyond simply bringing children back to classrooms.
It seeks to address the range of factors that push children out of school – from documentation barriers and social vulnerabilities to child labour, early marriage, trafficking and limited livelihood opportunities. Once cases are identified, block education offices consolidate data on re-enrolment and restoration of attendance.
At the district level, the data is used to identify high-risk schools requiring focused intervention. Children participating in the campaign have also been given ‘Ambassadors for Change’ badges to encourage them to take ownership of the initiative and act as advocates for keeping their peers in school, Yadav said.
The administration has put in place multiple layers of supervision, including random verification of reported cases, parental counselling, school inspections and attendance audits. The programme’s performance is assessed through indicators such as reduction in dropout rates, successful re-enrolment, restoration of regular attendance, timely reporting and follow-up.
The approach appears to be yielding results. 76 per cent, according to the district administration.
4 per cent. The quality indicators have also shown improvement.
The number of Grade C schools under the Gunotsav assessment has dropped from nine to three, while 96 per cent of schools are now in the A+ and A categories, according to the administration. Chirayu Charaideo is not confined to attendance and enrolment.
