IRCDUC Survey Identifies 148 Out-of-School Children in Ezhil Nagar Resettlement Area
An assessment conducted by the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) identified 148 out-of-school children in Ezhil Nagar, a resettlement site near Kannagi Nagar. IRCDUC began working with children and families in the settlement in June 2024 and initially identified 99 out-of-school children in March 2025 before the count rose to 148 by September 2026.
The identified group comprised 81 boys and 67 girls, with adolescents accounting for the bulk of those excluded from the education system. A total of 110 children, or 74.3 percent, were aged between 11 and 18 years. Within this bracket, 60 children were in the 16 to 18 age group, while 50 were aged between 11 and 15 years.
The assessment revealed that educational exclusion was often prolonged among the resettlement site's youth. Information on the duration of absence was available for 122 children, showing that 71 had been out of school for one to three years, while another 11 had been out of school for three years or more. IRCDUC attributed this exclusion to multiple factors, including a lack of essential documents, learning difficulties, distance from schools, an inadequate availability of higher secondary schools, and substance dependency within families.
Evaluating the current status of the children, the survey found that 23 were enrolled in school regularly, while 15 were enrolled but attending irregularly. Ten children had returned to school but subsequently dropped out again and were placed under follow-up, while 37 were recorded as not interested in returning. The assessment also recorded several vulnerabilities, including tobacco dependency, single-parent households, family disputes, and substance use involving alcohol or drugs.
Founder of IRCDUC Vanessa Peter said that simply enrolling children without addressing their underlying vulnerabilities would fail to tackle root causes and could result in repeated dropouts. She stressed that constant follow-ups, re-enrolment, and a community-based rehabilitation policy were required. The organisation noted that while its interventions include facilitating access to documents and following up with authorities, a proposal to upgrade the Ezhil Nagar middle school to a higher secondary school remains pending, with bridge-school arrangements and counselling remaining inadequate.
A separate field study by postgraduate students from the Madras School of Social Work identified 19 out-of-school children and youth in Blocks 1 to 8 of Ezhil Nagar in Thoraipakkam. That survey found lack of interest in studies accounted for eight dropouts, family issues accounted for six, and three left after failing Class 10. Documentation problems and a lack of specialised educational support accounted for one case each.
