Srinagar, Jul 06: The School Education Department has said that the dropout problem has been quite endemic in certain areas owing to many reasons and closure of schools due to COVID-19 lockdown.

The department in a circular has said, “Since dropout problem has been quite endemic in certain areas due to many reasons and closure of Schools due to COVID-19 lockdown and this has considerably added to the figures.”

In the meantime Directorate of School Education Kashmir has said, “National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) is offering courses for the continuation of Education of Out of School Children (OoSC) through open and distance learning (ODL) mode in order to minimize dropout rate and mainstream these children into the fold of Education.”

“This practice has proven a deterrent in the continuation of education by the children belonging to marginalized categories and has hindered inclusion to a larger extent,” it reads.

DSEK advised all Chief Education Officers (CEOs), Zonal Education  Officers (ZEOs), Head of Institutions HOIs) and teachers to aware and guide the Out of School Children (OoSC) in their catchment areas about the courses offered by NIOS for them to continue their education.

The courses offered by NIOS are OBE ‘A’ Level- equivalent to Class-III, OBE ‘B’ Level- equivalent to Class IV and OBE ‘C’ Level- equivalent to Class VIII for the Open Basic Education Programme. kno