Delhi education department asks task force to submit recommendations on fixing dropouts, low attendance by November 15

Delhi education department has set November 15 as the deadline for the task force-cum-advisory committee to submit its recommendations on reducing dropout rates, improving learning outcomes, and addressing the impact of low student attendance on the Mid-Day Meal Scheme under the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 in low-performing schools.

The education department constituted a 26-member panel on August 17 under the Samagra Shiksha Society to comprehensively examine the challenges related to dropout rates, learning outcomes, and the impact of low student attendance on the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, and recommend measures to address them.

According to the minutes of the meeting held on September 9, the committee decided that the Delhi State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) would identify 10 schools in each district grappling with these issues and conduct an in-depth study to examine the underlying factors.

“Based on the analysis undertaken by SCERT, the Task Force shall recommend practical, feasible, and suggestive interventions at the school, district, and headquarters levels for improving attendance, reducing dropout rates, and enhancing student engagement. The recommendations shall be submitted by November 15, 2026,” one of the 18 decisions taken by the committee, according to the minutes of the meeting accessed by HT.

Other decisions

The committee also decided that the impact of seasonal migrations, family movement, pollution-related restrictions, and other external factors on attendance should be studied through data.

“Specific period of absence, duration of absence, return pattern, affected schools, areas and factors influencing children’s return to school or continued absence shall be analysed to develop appropriate area-specific responses by November 30, 2026,” the minutes stated.

The committee also emphasised the need to establish school-level task forces in the identified schools and highlighted the teacher-student ratio as a key factor to examine when assessing the issues.

The assessment of teacher availability should take into account the sanctioned strength, the actual number of teachers available, vacancies, the distribution of regular, guest, and contractual teachers, their deployment to non-teaching duties, and the overall student-teacher ratio, it said.

In addition to addressing teacher-related issues, the committee decided to focus on student retention and on improving enrolment by involving parents through the “Star Parent” initiative.