IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF AN ALTERNATIVE INTERVENTION FOR ACCESS OF MARGINALIZED CHILDREN TO EDUCATION AND RETENTION

The last couple of decades have witnessed sustained governmental efforts towards universalization of elementary education in India; yet the status of human development in the country is a matter of great concern. In the latest Human Development Report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), covering 187 countries across the world, India is ranked at 135, among the 'medium development' countries like Egypt, South Africa, Mongolia, Philippines and Indonesia. Among India's neighbours, Bhutan and Bangladesh too figure in this category. Though India has made considerable progress in social, political and economic spheres and has emerged as one of the fasted growing and the world's fourth largest economy. But it still has more poor people than any other country with about one third of the population living below the poverty line. One of the main reasons of the poverty of the masses is not having the access to adequate educational facilities and subsequent benefits of education. This paper presents the factual details of a study, which attempted to examine the status of marginalized children's access to education and retention in West Bengal, particularly of those children, whose parents work in the brick kilns of 24 North Pargana and Maldah districts of the State.