From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:33 PM IST

India's effort to reduce school dropouts among children is paying off.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development M.A.A. Fatmi told the Rajya Sabha in written answers Monday that the dropout rate had come down to 13 million in August last year from a high of 44 million in 2001, according to a national survey in 2005.

The dropout rate is currently about 6.94 percent of the total Children in the age group 6-13 years.

The minister said the change around has been due to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme 'which has made considerable progress in enhancing access to elementary education'.

The scheme has flexible schemes for children who are 'hardest to reach' such as leaning centres with flexible timings, seasonal hostels, home based education and mobile schools.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)