The Chief Minister's Office of Gujarat announced on Saturday, 11 July 2026 that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held an inspirational dialogue with re-enrolled students, their parents, and mentors at Teniwada village in Banaskantha district under the state's ongoing 'Back to School Mission', aimed at universalising education and reducing school dropout rates across Gujarat.

Context

The visit to Teniwada saw CM Bhupendra Patel engage directly with children who had previously dropped out of school and have since been re-enrolled. He inquired about the reasons they had left school, their academic experiences after returning, and their hopes for the future — encouraging them to attend school regularly, study diligently, move forward with confidence, and aim for high goals in life.

Invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve to ensure every child in the country has access to education, the Chief Minister stated that 'શિક્ષણ એ વ્યક્તિ, પરિવાર અને સમાજના સર્વાંગી વિકાસનું સૌથી અસરકારક સાધન છે' ('Education is the most effective instrument for the all-round development of an individual, a family, and society').

Policy Backdrop

The Back to School Mission is a Gujarat government programme that identifies out-of-school children through comprehensive district-level surveys and re-enrols them with the support of community mentors and parents. The initiative aligns with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and builds on the foundational framework of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, launched nationally in 2001, which set the template for dropout-reduction drives still active across Indian states.

The National Education Policy 2020 further reinforced the push to reduce dropout rates through community outreach and monitoring, a direction the Gujarat government has pursued under successive administrations. The Back to School Mission represents a district-by-district execution of these broader national mandates.

Stakeholders and Impact

A comprehensive survey conducted across Banaskantha district identified a total of 37,415 dropout children. Of these, 29,451 children have been successfully re-enrolled in schools — a re-enrolment rate of approximately 79 per cent of those identified. Banaskantha, a northern Gujarat district with significant rural and tribal populations, has historically faced acute challenges around school access and retention.

The dialogue at Teniwada brought together not just students but also their parents and mentors, underscoring the mission's emphasis on community-level ownership of educational outcomes. Mentors play a key role in bridging the gap between identification of dropouts and sustained school attendance.

What's Next

The immediate focus will be on sustaining attendance among the nearly 29,451 re-enrolled students in Banaskantha beyond the initial re-enrolment phase — a challenge that historically proves harder than the enrolment drive itself. District-level progress reports on attendance retention will be a critical measure of the mission's long-term success.

The Gujarat government's stated resolve to extend the Back to School Mission statewide signals that similar survey-and-re-enrolment exercises could be rolled out in other districts with high dropout concentrations. The Chief Minister's direct field engagement in Banaskantha sets a visible benchmark for accountability in the programme's execution.