Nuh plans drive to bring children back to school, cut dropout rate

Gurgaon: Newly appointed Nuh district education officer (DEO) Rajender Sharma said the department will intensify ground-level efforts to reduce the district's dropout rate by at least 10% in the coming academic session. The department will launch a campaign from April 1 to bring out-of-school children back into classrooms and prevent enrolled students from dropping out. The department will identify children not enrolled in schools and provide them with bridge courses.For students who left school after enrolment, officials will focus on community outreach and counselling parents so that children return to classes. "We will not rely only on paperwork. Our focus will be on direct engagement with communities and convincing parents about the importance of education," the officer said.Recalling a recent interaction with residents during a BPL ration distribution event, the DEO said he used the opportunity to speak to families about the importance of sending their children to school. "Whenever we meet people in villages, we try to remind them that education is the strongest tool for improving their children's future," he said."Many parents feel their responsibility ends with providing food for their children, but education is equally important for their future. Unless society changes its thinking, the problem will continue," the DEO added.The renewed push comes as Nuh continues to record one of the highest dropout rates in Haryana. According to figures from the UDISE portal, the district reported a dropout rate of 12.8% in 2025–26 (classes VI–VIII), significantly higher than the state average of 3.05%.The issue was raised in the Haryana Assembly after Congress MLA Aftab Ahmad from Nuh posed a question on dropout rates across districts. Data presented in the House showed that besides Nuh, other districts with relatively high dropout rates include Panchkula (6.03%), Palwal (5.8%), Ambala (4.39%) and Sirsa (3.39%). Districts such as Bhiwani, Panipat, Yamunanagar, Fatehabad and Faridabad also feature among the top 10 districts with higher dropout levels.Education officials say the reasons behind dropouts in the Mewat region are complex and rooted in social as well as infrastructural challenges. While enrolment in primary classes remains relatively high, a significant number of students, particularly girls, stop attending school by middle school, and the numbers decline further in higher classes. In many villages, parents hesitate to send daughters to co-educational schools after puberty.Distance and lack of safe transport also remain major concerns. In several areas around Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana, students often travel 15 to 20 kilometres to reach the nearest girls' school, and with limited bus services and safety concerns, many families choose to withdraw their daughters from school.Officials also cite early marriages, poverty and lack of awareness among parents about the long-term value of education as contributing factors. The DEO said the education department will work with anganwadi centres, school principals and other govt departments to identify children who are not attending school and ensure they return to the education system. "There is no magic solution. But with consistent work on the ground and cooperation from the community, we hope to gradually bring down the dropout rate in the district," he said.