Internal displacement or migration results in high drop-out rate among children, revealed an exhaustive study that examined 500 urban labourer families who had migrated to the city.
Coming out with startling figures, the study pointed out that 35 per cent of boys and 25 per cent of girls who used to attend primary school in their native villages dropped out of education once they accompanied their parents to Hyderabad.
More boys among dropouts
As per the report while 53 per cent of boys and 47 per cent of girls were enrolled in primary schools of their home towns, after migration just 18 per cent of boys and 22 per cent of the girls went to school.
A lot many of them end up adding on to child labour force in urban and semi-urban work-sites. However, enrolment of such students in anganwadis was better with 41 per cent of boys and 53 per cent of girls getting enrolled in these institutions.
In the city, 10 per cent of the total number of schools in any locality were available within one kilometer radius of the work site. However, it was not just lack of schools that caused the abysmal drop out, study revealed.
Continual migrations
“In most cases children migrate along with families during the peak of the academic year and fail to get admission in schools in the destination place. Also continual migrations force children to stop education as they always travel during the academic year,” the study read.
The drop-out rates among boys in elementary schools are higher than that among girls as male children are preferred for labour. Even Right to Education Act had not ensured enrolment of displaced children, the study revealed.
The study which collected data from families of brick kiln labourers had also drawn conclusions with national ramifications as it had examined workers from Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Exploitation
As per the full report, Hyderabad fared better among other cities when it came to the education of migrant children. Talking to The Hindu , P. David Raj, State Programme Manager, Child Protection Unit, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that being out of school increases the chances of being exploited both for labour and sex.
“These children’s living conditions are also poor. From healthcare to education they are the most neglected,” Mr. Raj said. Such children are neglected also because welfare officers and State departments are not aware of their existence because their families do not have documents including birth certificates or ration cards.
On Tuesday, Aide et Action held discussions with parents of children and social workers to provide safe and healthy lives to migrant children.
