Filling the gaps in school education

The UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education)-Plus data on enrolment and drop-out in schools paints a sobering picture of school education in the country. On the enrolment front, there has been a fall of over 3.7 million (1.47%) — from 251.7 million students in 2022-23 to 248 million in 2023-24. This decline is secular across gender groups, social categories and education levels. Ironically, the number of schools increased in this period by over 5,000 — from 1.466 million in 2022-23 to 1.471 million in 2023-24. However, it is a matter of relief that the drop-out rate, which captures the number of students leaving school midway, has improved across all categories. Since the methodology followed by the UDISE-Plus report is recent, its data may not be comparable with those provided by other reports on educational indicators such as gross enrolment ratio and net enrolment ratio.

That said, the findings reveal some key gaps. In the past several years, there has been a major effort on the part of the State to expand public schooling and ensure quality education across social categories. Policies such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Right to Education have enabled the building of infrastructure and improving access. State governments — and political parties — have also started investing more in school education: States such as Bihar have focussed more on access — cycles for female students, for example — whereas in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, the emphasis is on second-generation reforms including raising the quality of infrastructure, curriculum, and teaching.

But in several regions, lopsided student-teacher ratio, teacher absenteeism, delays in disbursing scholarships,, the digital divide, and gender discrimination continue to impact enrolment and retention despite changes in mindsets and aspirations. Improving enrolment is the first step towards ensuring education for all. The UDISE-Plus report suggests there is still a lot of ground to be covered on this front.

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