Gujarat to launch AI-based system to cut dropout rate in schools

Indian Express

a day ago

With Gujarat being among the states with the highest dropout rate in secondary education, the state government has devised an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Early Warning System (EWS) to curb dropouts. To be launched across the state during Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani, a three-day school enrolment drive to be kicked off on June 26, the EWS will provide information and send out alerts on potential dropouts in Classes 8 and 9.
Already piloted in a few schools during the 2024-25 academic session, the EWS uses students' data maintained at the Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK). Each student enroled in government-run and aided schools has a unique identification number, which is stored and tracked by the VSK.
'The Early Warning System aims at identifying students at risk of dropping out of school at the secondary level, based on identification of key indicators. Once 'at-risk' children are identified, they will be provided support through preventive response strategies and interventions to meet their specific needs. Continuous monitoring and tracking will be done at the school, cluster, district and state level to retain children in schools,' an Education department official told The Indian Express.
All government and aided schools in Gujarat are equipped with Child Tracking System (CTS). Based on algorithm, factors considered to ascertain possible dropouts include absenteeism, child's behaviour, academic performance and other factors like migration, socio-economic background along with demographic information. Data on potential dropouts will be shared with every school during the enrolment drive in the state.
To prevent children from dropping out, the School Management Committees (SMCs) and School Management Development Committees (SMDCs) will also seek the local community's help to interact with the children and their parents, as alerted by the EWS.
The list of potential dropouts will also be shared with the coordinators of block resource centres (BRCs) and cluster resource centre (CRCs), school principals as well as teachers and the school management committee (SMC) to ensure these students are provided all the necessary assistance.
Officials at the education department also said that schools will be directed to involve children's parents in the admission process to make them understand the importance of school education for the development and progress of the child. The school administration will also have to ensure that children attend school regularly.
Under behavioural issues, disruptive classroom behaviour, conflicts with peers or teachers, increased aggression, or withdrawal from social activities have been listed.
As per the Department of School Education and Literacy's UDISE dashboard for 2023-24, the retention rate in secondary schools in Gujarat was 44.3 per cent. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the secondary and higher secondary levels is 58.7 per cent, whereas the dropout rate at these levels is 16.7 per cent. Gujarat is ranked with states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, which have a GER of 50.1-60 per cent in secondary classes.
Shala Praveshotsav was launched by the Gujarat government in 2003 to promote school enrolment and keep drop-out rate in check. As part of the initiative, ministers, bureaucrats and police officers visit schools in teams to enrol students. The government has set a target of getting 25.75 students enroled for the 2025-26 academic session. Of them, 10.5 lakh are eligible for admission in Class IX, 6.5 lakh students for admission to Classes 10 and 11, and 8.75 lakh for admission in Balvatika.
The Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani this year will target secondary and higher secondary schools. Out of a total of three schools to be visited by each official on each of the three days of the exercise, one should be primary and two secondary and higher secondary schools.