Shimla – In a significant move to support children who have left school midway, Samagra Shiksha will launch a special campaign to impart self-employment skills to school dropouts aged 14 to 18 years. The initiative aims to open 50 skill centers in areas with high numbers of drop-out children, ensuring they receive vocational training tailored to their interests and needs.
To effectively identify and reach out to these children, Samagra Shiksha has trained 4,317 teachers and school heads from government high schools and senior secondary schools across the state. These trained educators will conduct surveys around their respective schools to locate and gather details of drop-out children. The survey is expected to be completed by the first week of next month, after which the training process will commence.
“Each of the 50 skill centers will offer training in two specific vocational courses, designed to equip the children with practical skills that can lead to self-employment opportunities,” said a representative from Samagra Shiksha. “We are also committed to identifying children with special abilities and providing them with customized training.”
The initiative follows the successful training of 1,500 children in employment-oriented courses such as Automotive, Apparel, Beauty and Wellness, Electronics and Hardware, ITES, Plumbing, Tourism, and Hospitality during the 2022-23 academic year. An additional 4,038 children received similar training in 2023-24. This year, Samagra Shiksha aims to expand its reach, ensuring more children are brought into the mainstream of education where possible, while also equipping them with essential self-employment skills.
The Directorate of Samagra Shiksha has issued instructions to all Higher Education Deputy Directors and District Project Officers (DPOs) to facilitate this campaign. The program not only aims to provide vocational skills but also to reintegrate these children into the educational system wherever feasible.
