GUWAHATI : Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has inaugurated ‘Shiksha Yatra: From Challenges to Aspirations’, a statewide initiative aimed at identifying out-of-school children and helping them return to formal education.

The programme, launched for the 2026-27 financial year, will focus on tracing school dropouts and children with prolonged absenteeism and facilitating their enrolment or re-enrolment in schools. Under the initiative, District Quality Managers and Education Volunteers of Samagra Shiksha Assam will conduct a statewide survey to identify children who have dropped out or remain outside the formal education system.

The survey will be conducted from August 20 to September 23, 2026, with 2,862 surveyors deployed across the state. Officials said children requiring additional assistance will be connected with residential and non-residential Special Training Centres (STCs), while eligible children may also be linked with the Open School system.

The initiative is aimed at strengthening the identification, enrolment and mainstreaming of out-of-school children by creating support pathways based on their individual needs. The government said the exercise seeks to ensure that children who have discontinued schooling or remained absent for extended periods are brought back into the education system.

The programme was inaugurated at Jyoti Bishnu Antarjatik Kala Mandir in Guwahati. The initiative is expected to provide district-level teams with a comprehensive picture of children currently outside the formal education system and enable targeted interventions to help them resume their studies.

The state government has emphasised that the campaign is guided by the objective of ensuring that no child is left behind and that every child has an opportunity to continue education and build a better future.