Speaker: Mridusmita Bordoloi, Associate Fellow, Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research

Host: Nisha Vernekar, Lead and Senior Resident Fellow, Inclusive Education, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

This interview series is produced by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, under the Kotak-Karma Vidhi Inclusive Education programme. The Kotak-Karma Vidhi Inclusive Education programme is a CSR initiative by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

This interview series is based and born from Vidhi’s report, “Clearing the Air: A Synthesised Mapping of Out of School Children during COVID-19 in India (April 2020-May 2022)”. This report is produced under funding received from Voltas Limited, as part of their CSR Initiative.

Video design and editing by: Asad Ali (Instagram)

Illustration by: Hitesh Sonar

References/ Reading List

Policies, Laws, Schemes and Programmes of the State

Mission Vatsalya (erstwhile Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme): a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, since 2009-10 for the welfare and rehabilitation of children. 

National Child Labour Project

Maharashtra’s “Zero Drop-out Mission”: a programme of the school education department of Maharashtra in 2022 to arrest drop-outs. 

Further Reading

1. Background paper prepared for Global Education Monitoring Report: Regulation of non-state actors in school education in India

2. Budget Brief for Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan: Using government reported data, the briefs analyse trends in allocations, public expenditures, outputs and outcomes of key social sector programmes. 

3. Evidence of increase in enrollment in government schools:
   1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/enrolments-in-government-schools-up-private-ones-see-a-decline/article66096544.ece
   2. https://factly.in/data-enrolment-in-government-schools-increases-while-it-decreases-in-private-schools-in-the-aftermath-of-covid-19/ 

4. School rationalisation/ consolidation and equity concerns
   1. Dongre, Ambrish, and Vibhu Tewary. “Pain without gain?: Impact of school rationalisation in India.” International Journal of Educational Development 72 (2020): 102142.
   2. Bordoloi, Mridusmita, and Ritwik Shukla. “School Consolidation in Rajasthan: Implementation and Short-Term Effects.” Centre for Policy Research (2019).

Research Team: 

Aditya Narayan Rai, Avinash Reddy Pichhili, Kadambari Agarwal, Pooja Pandey, Nisha Vernekar (Inclusive Education Team, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy)

Karan Singhal (University of Luxembourg & Luxembourg Institute of Socioeconomic Research)