Nearly 56,000 girls between 11 and 14 years of age are out of school in Odisha, reveals study

Bhubaneswar: A survey by Women and Child Welfare and Mission Shakti (WCD-MS) department has claimed that 55,868 girls in the age group of 11-14 years were out of school in Odisha but the School and Mass Education minister (S&ME) Badri Narayan Patra says the number was 1,060. Patra rejected the survey figure of the WCD-MS department and said as per the survey done by his department the number of girls out of school was 1,060. “The OPEPA (Odisha Primary Education Programme Authority) in 2017 had conducted a survey. It showed that 1,060 adolescent girls in the age group of 11-14 years were out of school in the state,” Patra told reporters Monday. [caption id=“attachment_4314439” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The baseline survey of the WCD-MS department conducted by the field functionaries in 2018 claimed that there 55,868 girls were out of school. The survey was conducted to find the number of girls for the department’s Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG). The SAG is being implemented across the state since April, 2018. According to the WCD-MS survey, the maximum number of 10,599 adolescent girls are out of school in Koraput district followed by 8,899 in Nabarangpur, 7,132 in Kalahandi, 5,585 in Malkangiri and 5,320 in Raygada districts. While in Bhadrak district there are no out-of-school girls in the age group of 11-14 years. Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has 4,296 girls. WCD-MS department joint secretary RR Nayak said the survey was conducted by the field functionaries. According to officials, the secretary of the WCD-MS department, Anu Garg had also written to the principal secretary of S&ME department urging him to take immediate steps to get the girls enrolled in schools.