education-ministry-concerned-about-j-k-school-dropout-rates

Student enrolment in J&K schools has dropped by over 1 lakh from 27.18 to 26.15 lakhs in just one academic session from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

 

Surprised by the numbers the Ministry of Education has directed the school education department to explain the reasons for dropouts.

 

This information was revealed during a review meeting chaired by the Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India.

 

Official figures show that in 2021-22, there were 1.67 lakh teachers in 28,805 schools in J&K, with an enrolment of 27.18 lakh students.

 

However, in 2022-23, the number of schools decreased to 24,278, and the number of students dropped to 26.15 lakh.

 

Despite the School Education Department (SED) claiming over 1 lakh new admissions, enrolment still decreased by 1,04,289 students. 

 

There was, however, a slight increase with 15,617 students joining schools in 2023-24, taking the number to 26.29 lakh.

 

Earlier reports suggested that 61,451 students had dropped out of schools from 2022-23 to 2023-24, based on Unified District Information System For Education Plus data (UDISE+) data.  

 

UDISE+ is an information management system initiated by the MoE.

 

An official document stated that this decline was observed in 554 schools.

 

Moving forward, the directorate Samagra Shiksha J&K instructed all Chief Education Officers (CEOs) to validate the data and identify reasons for the enrolment drop.

 

An official mentioned that “CEOs are collecting data from all schools and submitting reports to the department.”

 

Despite annual enrolment drives by the SED, the decline persisted. The department claimed to have registered over 1 lakh new admissions in various classes.

 

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has demanded a “valid reason” for the decline. “If there is a drop in enrolment over the past two years in your UT, give a valid reason for the dropout in the coming 15 days,” reads a message sent to the SED. This request came a day after the Secretary DSEL chaired a review meeting with the SED.

 

The message warned, “In UDISE 2022-23 and 2023-24 if there is a fall, it will affect the overall GER (gross enrolment ratio) calculations which will be lower than the earlier years.”