In past year, how a ‘tracking system’ red-flagged absence of 6 lakh kids at Delhi govt schools

There are 1,070 Delhi government schools and the system depends on them marking their attendance reports online.

The DCPCR provided the data in response to an RTI application filed by The Indian Express and said it tracks a total of 22 reasons for absence. The Commission, however, was not able to provide specific reasons for absenteeism among the 6 lakh students detected by the system.

The DCPCR has been functioning at nearly zero capacity for months now; as a result, the early warning system too has taken a hit. The Commission is meant to have six members — all posts have been vacant since the last member completed her term on December 13 last year. Four members completed their terms in November last year.

The Chairperson’s position, meanwhile, had remained vacant from July 2023 onwards. On March 12, a circular issued by the Department of Women and Child Development stated that the L-G has nominated the Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, as chairperson in the interim.

17.85 lakh students were enrolled in Delhi government schools in 2022-23.

How does it work

Once students are ‘detected’ by the system, an SMS is sent to the parent or guardian. Then, phone calls to the parent or guardian are made by ‘associates’ — 25 of them — working at CyFuture, a call centre hired by the DCPCR. They enquire about the reasons for the child’s absence.

“If the child is unwell or out of town and the matter can be resolved through voice intervention, it is done depending on the issue. Issues like bullying, child labour, marriage, mental trauma, or not being able to contact the parent or guardian are escalated to the DCPCR,” said Ujjawal Bhatnagar, Manager (Operations), at CyFuture. The agency was engaged through a tender process and has been involved since 2022, he said.
The call centre also flags cases for ‘home visits’ — when three attempts have been made to contact the family with no success.

As per data with the DCPCR, from January to March 2023, the Commission, in collaboration with two NGOs, made a total of 45,000 home visits for cases identified by the early warning system. If the student does not return to school after a call or home visit, another home visit is to be conducted, as per the system.

A DCPCR official, however, said field visits are unlikely to have happened after the members demitted office, adding that the early warning system was the prerogative of the members.

Interventions

On interventions undertaken by the DCPCR, the official provided a list of 53 cases in which ‘home visits’ were initiated from April 2023 onwards. While these include visits based on complaints and grievances received on the DCPCR helpline, 12 involved specific instances of students being absent from school.

One of the cases, marked on the system, was of a 16-year-old who was married off on March 30 last year. The case was marked to get the child’s present address and conduct a home visit. While it has been marked as ‘resolved,’ the official was not able to specify if children were brought back to school through such interventions.

Other cases include instances of children working. In one case, a student, when contacted, said his parents had passed away and he lives with his grandmother and younger brother. To take care of his brother, he works in a factory for Rs 8,000, which is why he was absent from school.

In a similar instance, another student said he remains absent from school as he sells clothes and earns Rs 5,000 since his father is unwell. In another case, the mother of a child, when contacted, said the child doesn’t go to school and works because of “financial limitations.”

The system also raised other types of cases. The father of a 16-year-old, when contacted, said the child had not been going to school after a fight with other children.

While specific dates have not been mentioned in the list of 53 cases, some contain dates of calls or complaints made, ranging from March to mid-May last year.

As per the DCPCR’s 2020-2023 performance report, since March 2022, the early warning system identified eight most prominent causes of frequent or long absences: sickness (43,367 cases); migration (25,511); bunking (6,943); parental death/death in the family (1,958); child labour (115); child marriage (30); sexual/physical abuse (124); missing child (46); and peer pressure/substance abuse (47).

It added that the system had, till then, identified 2.84 lakh students as being ‘at risk’. This included the case of a 17-year-old girl who was to get married in January 2023; following intervention, the marriage was cancelled and the student and her family were counselled.