Madhya Pradesh is to conduct a weeklong education campaign, starting from Monday, to encourage the dropouts back to school, in the form of rallies, art exhibitions and plays.
'The Rajya Shiksha Kendra (state education centre) will start an `Education For All Week' campaign with the intention to bring all in the five to 14 years' age group to school,' an official of the state's school education department said.'For the first time, staff from various government departments will collaborate on this door-to-door campaign to be monitored by district collectors,' he said.
After the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was launched in 1994, the central government launched the 'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' (SSA) - education for all - in 2001 to universalise primary education in grades one to five by 2007 and elementary education in grades one to eight by 2010.
Unlike the DPEP, the SSA is funded entirely by domestic resources and provides the states with a strong initiative to tackle illiteracy among the younger section of the population.
The scheme's objective is to ensure that all children in the state complete a minimum five years of primary schooling by 2007 and eight years of elementary schooling by 2010, while bridging all gender and social category gaps.
--Edited IANS
