Dropouts remain a leading concern in India, most predominantly in rural and semi-urban India where poverty, poor infrastructure, and social limitations often force children out of schools at its midpoint. The percentages of dropouts are most intense in secondary schooling, where domestic responsibilities or employment duties often become a higher priority over continued schooling. However, despite such a challenge, grassroots projects as well as community programs are ushering in life-transforming successes that give children as well as young people a second chance.
The most successful scheme in this direction has been the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), which has flexible strands of learning available to those who are no longer in a position to continue in formal schools. Accessible over nios.ac.in, the scheme allows learners to complete secondary and senior secondary schools at their own pace, as well as give vocational streams. Some grassroots organizations work in tandem with NIOS to reintroduce drop-outs into formal learning, so that a generation does not miss out permanently.
Kerala offers inspiriting tales in its “Second Chance” initiatives, generally sparked by local NGOs in collaboration with panchayats. When, during the pandemic, there was a likelihood of students dropping out of school, technology-driven platforms were employed by the state to contact learners who had smartphones and digital classrooms. As quoted in the Government of Kerala’s portal kerala.gov.in, bridge courses as well as community tuition centers were ready to keep susceptible children in contact with academics. These initiatives ensured that children who could have otherwise been lost in the system were brought back onto the academic fold.
In northern Indian states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where formal schooling is often disrupted by labour migration, grassroots volunteers have organized bridge schools and after-work instruction for migrant worker children. International organizations such as Pratham have innovated programs such as “Second Chance Program” specifically for early droppers who are girls. Through accelerated learning, skill enhancement, and counseling, Pratham has empowered thousands of teen-age girls to get back into education and, slowly, back into employment or higher studies, breaking pathways of poverty.
Information technology is increasingly being deployed in such grassroots interventions. Websites such as eVidyaloka bring together urban volunteers and rural students through digital classrooms. These programs target specific numbers of droppers who need personalized care in nursing back into mainstream schools. Through digital platforms, mobilizing seasoned teachers from distant villages, they offer a literacy-friendly haven where children feel encouraged to pick up education once again, and give a reassuring message that they are not alone in doing so. The Government of India has itself been supporting its policies to prevent and salvage droppers.
Interventions such as Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, spellled out in its entirety at samagra.education.gov.in, aim to provide full-spectrum care through a convergence of early child care, elementary, and secondary teaching. Grassroots groups very often work in tandem with such initiatives, ensuring out-of-school children are being offered special interventions such as bridge classes, free text books, and counseling back into classrooms. Groundwork narratives bring out the personal angle of such interventions.
In Rajasthan, girls who were nudged towards dropping out based upon early marriage pressures found a ray of hope in community centers that involved families in negotiating a return back to books. In Maharashtra, self-help groups not only provided financial aid for dropping students, but mentored such students through alternative schools as well. These case histories bring out that grassroots interventions are not only about books, but re-constructing faith in oneself, removing social barriers, and regaining pride. What makes such programs different is that they address droppers not as falterers, but as young people who have potential to unlock.
Integrating community care, Government initiatives, and innovative teaching, India is increasingly turning dropping out into turning points for successes. The conviction of such young pupils, spearheaded by grassroots teachers and volunteers’ enthusiasm, is a reflection of an alternative India where there exists a potential for each child to have a route back to school. Greater awareness, greater resources, and continued collaborations enable such grassroots projects to keep penning new futures, a dropout at a time.