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India Today
3 days ago
- General
- India Today
Centre flags rising school dropouts, urges states to act before 2030
India's Education Ministry urges states to tackle rising secondary school dropout rates with enrolment drives and accurate data tracking to meet NEP 2020 targets. Secondary school dropout rates in India remain a significant challenge, with several states experiencing higher-than-average figures. According to a report by a department of the Education Ministry, states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra show notable dropout percentages, prompting the central government to advocate for corrective measures. The report highlights the urgent need for intervention to address these alarming statistics. Addressing the dropout rates The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 outlines a vision for a 100 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) by 2030. However, dropout rates pose a substantial barrier to achieving this goal. For example, Karnataka's dropout rate at the secondary level stands at 22.1 per cent, significantly above the national average of 14.1 per cent. The central government has stressed the importance of states taking targeted actions to mitigate these rates and ensure educational continuity. Proposed initiatives As part of the efforts to address this issue, the Centre has recommended initiatives such as special enrolment drives. These would involve door-to-door surveys in school catchment areas to identify and enrol out-of-school children. The Project Approval Board (PAB) has highlighted the need for states to focus on these initiatives, especially in regions with acute dropout challenges. Effective implementation of these strategies is crucial for success. Challenges in data reporting In Bihar, the issue of dropout rates is compounded by what the report describes as "large variations" in data reporting, particularly on the PRABANDH portal. This inconsistency necessitates a more structured approach to ensure accurate identification and admission of out-of-school children. In line with this, the involvement of school management committees has been suggested to streamline processes. Regional disparities West Bengal, with an annual dropout rate of 17.87 per cent at the secondary level, has been advised to scrutinise the factors contributing to this statistic. Efforts to rectify data discrepancies and address underlying issues are deemed essential for improving enrolment rates. Similarly, other states have been encouraged to assess their specific dropout causes and adopt tailored strategies to combat them. Addressing these disparities is vital for achieving national educational goals. With the overarching goal of achieving full enrolment by 2030, the central government stresses the urgency for states to take decisive steps. The Samagra Shiksha programme, aimed at holistic school development, reinforces this call by promoting educational inclusivity and quality improvement across all levels. The collaborative efforts of states and the central government are essential to realize these ambitions.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Centre asks States to take steps to check high secondary school dropout rates
School dropout rates at the secondary level were found to be high in a dozen States, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, according to a report by a department of the Education Ministry. Also Read | School dropout rates go from bad to worse in Bihar and Assam The central government has suggested that the States take special steps to reduce the dropout rate as laid out in the National Education Policy, 2020. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab were also found to have high school dropout rates. The information on dropout rates at the secondary school level was obtained from the minutes of the meetings of the Project Approval Board (PAB), which comes under the Ministry of Education. The meetings Samagra Shiksha programme for 2025-26 were held between April and May this year with different states. According to officials, the government wants to achieve a 100% Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the school level by 2030 as targeted in the NEP, 2020 and considers dropout as a hindrance. According to the PAB report, the dropout rate in 2023-24 at the secondary level in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu remains an area of concern. The Centre has advised these states to initiate a special enrolment drive in the form of door-to-door surveys in school catchment areas to identify out-of-school children (OoSC) and to ensure their admissions. In Bihar, as per the report, there were "large variations" in the reporting of data, especially on OoSC on the PRABANDH portal. The state was directed to initiate a special enrolment drive with the involvement of school management committees to ensure the identification and admission of all OoSC. The report said 57.06 per cent of school students in Delhi study in government-run schools which make up 48.99 per cent of schools in the national capital. The PAB expressed concern at the enrolment rate in government schools and suggested that Delhi should prioritise the improvement of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) -- both measures of participation in education -- at higher secondary level in the coming years. In West Bengal, the annual dropout rate at the secondary school level is 17.87%. The state was advised to check the data and work on factors responsible for the high dropout rate. In Tamil Nadu, the dropout rate at the secondary level — 7.7% — needs to be addressed. The state needs to improve on its 82.9 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary level and ensure 100 per cent as aimed in NEP. In Karnataka, the dropout rate at secondary levels — 22.1% — is higher than the national average for secondary — 4.1% — and therefore, needs to be addressed, the report said.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
UP records highest transition rate from secondary to senior secondary schools
Lucknow: With a transition rate of 76.7% from secondary to senior secondary, Uttar Pradesh not only leads the country but also surpasses the national average of 71.5%, according to the latest report from the Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting held under the Union Ministry of Education for the academic session 2025-26. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, the state needs to work towards improving the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) at all levels—primary, upper primary, and secondary, says the report. While GER is the total enrollment in a particular level of school education, regardless of age, NER is the total number of pupils enrolled in a particular level of school education who are of the corresponding official age. Currently, the GER at the primary level stands at 82.9%, upper primary at 78.8%, secondary at 63.8%, and higher secondary at 53.2%. The NER at primary, upper primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels stand at 67%, 49.4%, 30.7%, and 23.8% respectively. The report shows that the state govt has committed to filling the vacant posts of teachers at all levels by March 2026. At present, 22.7% (1.81 lakh) posts are vacant at the elementary level, 40.4% (3,872) at the secondary level, and 59.7% (8,714) at the senior secondary level. Similarly, 16.7% of academic posts are lying vacant in the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and 42.7% in District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). Reiterating the issue of single-teacher schools, UP was asked to take corrective action to ensure an adequate number of teachers in all schools, particularly at the elementary level. The state has 2,586 primary and 3,109 upper primary single-teacher schools. Likewise, the number of schools with less than 30 enrolments is quite high, with 7,037 primary and 1,859 upper primary schools. Moreover, the number of schools with less than 15 enrolments has increased substantially at the primary level, from 816 in 2022-23 to 1,329 in 2023-24, the report pointed out. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Nevertheless, UP has shown a decline in zero-enrolment schools, and the number of schools with an adverse pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) has decreased. The report has lauded the state's efforts towards mainstreaming Out of School Children (OoSC) with 100% coverage. For 2025-26, 68,913 OoSC have been identified. The report suggested that state officials initiate a special enrollment drive in the form of door-to-door surveys in school catchment areas to identify OoSC. To further enhance the accuracy of this identification, the state was also advised to analyse complementary data from sources such as the Registrar of Births and Deaths, Anganwadi centres, and the PM Poshan scheme. In addition, the report finds that almost 70% of the secondary and senior secondary schools do not have ICT labs and smart classrooms. Almost 40% of schools do not have subject-specific labs like physics, chemistry, and biology.
New Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
'Disturbing trend': Centre flags low enrolment in Telangana government schools
HYDERABAD: The Union government has raised concerns over the declining enrolment in government schools in Telangana. During a recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE), noted that despite substantial funding and expenditure, students continue to move away from government schools, a trend it described as disturbing. The Centre urged the state government to conduct a thorough analysis of the underlying causes and take corrective measures to reverse this trend. The Union government pointed out that government schools account for only 38.11% (27.8 lakh) of the total enrolment, compared to 60.75% (44.31 lakh) in private schools. Data from 2018–19 to 2023–24, excluding the Covid-affected year of 2021–22, shows a steady rise in private school enrolments. Telangana has a total of 41,901 schools, of which 30,022 (70%) are government-run and 12,126 (28.26%) are private-run. The PAB minutes further revealed that in 2023–24, the number of schools with zero enrolment increased compared to the previous year.
Hindustan Times
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘10k unrecognised schools operating in Bihar, Jharkhand'
Over 10,000 unrecognised school are operational in Jharkhand and Bihar, with over 1.6 million students enrolled in those schools, in violation of the Right to Education Act, data from the minutes of a recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the education ministry has shown. With 5,879 such schools, Jharkhand has the highest number of unrecognised schools in the country with an enrolment of 837,897 students and 46,421 teachers, the data showed, while Bihar has 4,915 such schools with an enrolment of 775,704 students and 42,377 teachers. The observation came during PAB meetings for the approval of budget and plans under Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26 with officials from all states between March and April 2025. During the meeting, the ministry flagged that unrecognised schools violate section 19 of the RTE Act, 2009, which mandates pre-existing schools to meet prescribed norms within three years of the Act's commencement. Unrecognised schools are private, unaided institutions operating without formal government recognition and regulatory frameworks. 'The Act also mandates that if such schools fail to fulfil the norms, the recognition shall be withdrawn, and the school shall cease to function,' the minutes of the meetings uploaded on ministry's website recently said. Further, the ministry has both states to 'take action and issue suitable instructions to the concerned authorities to recognise these unrecognised schools or to take appropriate action as deemed fit at the earliest.' While the ministry used data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE)+ 2023-24 report, these records are not publicly available in the report which was released in January this year. While officials in the education ministry did not respond to HT's request for comment, an official in Jharkhand said that directions for appropriate action have already been issued to the schools. 'These [Unrecognised] schools started functioning before the implementation of RTE Act 2009. The state government has already issued directions for recognition of such schools. We have formed district-level recognition committees for recognition of such schools,' Sachidanand Diyendu Tigga, administrative officer at Jharkhand education project council, said. According to the minutes of the PAB meetings, the ministry has also flagged 'large variation' in reporting of data about out-of-school children (OoSC) by Bihar and Jharkhand on the education ministry's Project Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements and Data Handling System (PRABANDH) portal and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey. The ministry advised both the states to 'monitor the data uploaded on the portal by responsible officer under the supervision of the State Project Director (SPD).' 'We will look into discrepancies in the number of OoSCs. We are running the campaign 'back to school' to enroll those students who are not going to the schools,' Tigga said. HT reached out to officials from the Bihar Education Project Council, but was yet to receive any response.
