Drop-outs and Classroom Teaching

Learning is science of behaviour . Learning is the modification of behavior through experience and training. But without literacy learning becomes difficult. Literacy is the basis for lifelong learning. It empowers individuals, communities and improves the quality of life. Literacy helps to reduce infant mortality, curbe population growth, eradicate poverty, reduce gender disparity and ensure sustainable development, peace and harmony. In addition to the Constitutional provision (Article 21A) to provide free and compulsory education to all children till the age of 14 years, the Govt. enacted a law in 2009. The RTE ACT-2009 has made a historic moment for the children of India But the target of Education For All is beyond reach. Still today one in five children leaves school before reaching grade 5 and almost one-third before reaching grade 8. The ILO has recently estimated that some 217.7 million children ages 5 to 17 are engaged in child labour around the world. Of these, some 126.3 million are caught in the worst forms of child labour. These are the children who have or have not enrolled their names in the primary school. The children enrolled their names have definitely not completed their elementary education. In India if you take the children up to 14, according to Census-2010, the total number of children in the workforce is 1,26,26,505-almost the same as previous census failed to reach this disadvantaged section of the society with the formal primary education system? What are the main causes behind the severe problems of illiteracy together with the problem of child labour? Is there any way-out to solve the problem of illiteracy among these children? Perhaps a partial solution may be available in the classroom teaching.