The Project Directorate of Samagra Shiksha, school education department has introduced a ‘Talaash’ app for mainstreaming of Out of School Children (O0SC).
The app was launched by Project Director Samagra Shiksha J&K, Dr. Arun Kumar Manhas.Others present at the launching ceremony were field officer Samagra Shiksha Peerzada Mushtaq Ahmed, J&K coordinator Ghulam Rasool Mir and others.
The OOSC programme aims to enumerate and keep track of OoSC in a timely and quality manner, through intensive data analysis and monitoring.
The digital application includes a web-based application for data collection and tracking of OoSC, mobile application for data collection and tracking of OoSC besides a dashboard for reporting purpose
The application is meant for easy use on smart phones by teachers to conduct surveys.
“It will make data collection and entry one step, eliminating the need for manual compilation of data and for sending to the block or any other level for data entry,” Arun Manhas said.
The J&K UT has an estimated 27500 OoSC comprising two categories- Never enrolled; and Dropouts.
At the launch, Dr. Manhas said, “COVID-19 has made the use of technology in education most imminent and EdTech initiatives have grown leaps and bounds in the past one year.
The Talash App will make the process of survey of OoSC easier by using digital platforms. The application has been introduced with joint efforts of Samagra Shiksha teams, UNICEF and Velocity Software.