Education Minister reports 87.14 lakh dip in govt school enrolment, defends data changes as cause
The Minister added that there was no need to read too much into the drop in figures as there has been a complete change in the manner of collection of data from 2022-23, making comparison of data from previous years 'statistically different/inchoate'.
Replying to a question from MPs Sougata Ray and Kishori Lal regarding 'Drop In enrolment in government schools, Pradhan also highlighted the schemes initiated to reduce the dropout rate.
The Minister said financial assistance provided to States/UTs for the year 2024-25, central release under Samagra Shiksha stood at Rs 34,45,820.90 lakh.
Pradhan claimed that it may not be justified to compare dropout rate data from previous years, as there has been a complete change in the manner of collection of data from 2022-23 onwards, from gross enrolment data to individual student data.
"It makes comparison of data from previous years statistically different/inchoate," said the Minister in his reply, adding that based on the recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), with effect from 2022-23 the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) system has been revitalised, to capture individual student wise data and created student's registry.
He said the UDISE+ system, to records data on indicators of school education provided by all the States and Union Territories, has been developed by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education.
The data presented by the Minister indicated that in the National Capital Delhi, the enrolment in government schools in 2023-24 stood at 25,71,404 as compared to 27,76,216 in 2022-23 - a drop of over 2.04 lakh.
In Karnataka, the enrolment in government schools in 2023-24 stood at 49,85,661 as compared to 53,27,221 in 2022-23 - a drop of over 3.41 lakh.
In Kerala, the enrolment in government schools in 2023-24 stood at 18,01,570 as compared to 18,54,934 in 2022-23 - a fall of 53,364.
In Punjab, the drop in enrolment in government schools in the 2023-24 academic year as compared to the previous year was 78,955; in Tamil Nadu, it was 2.01 lakh, in Maharashtra, it was 1.55 lakh, and in Himachal Pradesh, it was 40,213.
While highlighting steps taken to check the dropout rate, Pradhan said, "Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution, and the majority of the schools are under the domain of respective state and UT governments.
Central government assists States and UTs through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha and Mid Day Meal provided from Balvatika to class 8 under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojna."
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