Telangana: Survey shows 40.1 pc children aged 17-18 years not enrolled in colleges

Among these older teenagers, 68.7 per cent work more than 15 days a month.

Hyderabad: In a concerning trend, a staggering 22.1 per cent of the children in the age group of 14-18 years in Telangana have not enrolled in any school or college. This figure is in stark contrast to the national average of 13.2 per cent.

The statistics from the Socio Economic Outlook 2024 reveals that more boys (26 per cent) than girls (17.4 per cent) in the State are out of the educational institutions.

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The situation turns grave for the children aged 17-18 years, with the percentage of children not enrolled in educational institutions rising to 40.1 per cent. Among these older teenagers, 68.7 per cent work more than 15 days a month.

However, a total of 89.2 per cent of the 17-18 year olds, despite being out of the school, were found proficient in using digital technology. They excel at searching for and finding videos besides being skilled at sharing the content online, the report said citing the annual status of education report (rural) for the year 2022.

As for only schools, the survey recently conducted by the School Education department revealed that a total of 16,683 children including 11,405 at elementary level and 5,278 at secondary level were out of the school.

Children in the age group of 6-14 years are considered out of the school if they did not complete elementary education – either never enrolled in the school or dropped out without completing the elementary education. A pupil of an elementary school absent for more than one month is also be considered as out of the school child.

As per the report, the government has been implementing several initiatives to bridge the gaps.