NREGS Work Lures Children Away From School in Meghalaya

Tura, Jul 12 : Concerns have been expressed by the Meghalaya Education Department following a drastic fall in children’s attendance in lower primary and upper primary schools, particularly in remote and rural areas of East and South Garo Hills districts.

The root cause for the fall in children’s attendance has apparently been due to ongoing work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes for which villagers are paid a sum of Rs 100 per day.

The presence of quick money is said to be luring students, at times with active participation of their parents, into the work field and thereby neglecting their education.

This glaring case was brought to light during a recent review meeting of top district officials of South Garo Hills to try and streamline the education scenario of junior and middle level schools.

The review meeting on the status of education and literacy, which is the poorest in South Garo Hills, revealed that one of the main reasons for poor school and education board examination results was because of a high number of child labour being involved in the NREGA project works.

Many parents have reportedly encouraged their children to participate in the NREGA works since it brings in much needed extra cash to the family income. The end result has been that many children are reluctant to attend school due to their parents bidding and block authorities have totally failed to put a check on it.

In the recent MBOSE Class X and XII examinations students from South Garo Hills district fared poorly in comparison with their counterparts from West and East Garo Hills. The district authorities have now decided to strictly ensure school timing for primary and upper primary is maintained from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.

Also, after each half yearly examination, a review meeting would be held to monitor the progress of schools and the students and certificates would be awarded for the outstanding candidates. The ‘Nokmas’ and the school teachers would be more involved in grooming children in and out of the school and strict discipline will be maintained during the time of examinations, it was decided.

The review meeting which was attended by senior Education department officials also took up the progress report of civil works under SSA, report on enrollment of students both at the LP and UP schools, implementation of mid-day meal scheme in the district, maintaining of records in connection with the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, and the implementation of government guidelines on the banning of corporal punishment and ragging in schools and colleges.