Srinagar: In a startling revelation, the enrolment of students in government schools across J&K has decreased by two percent.
The revelation, made in official figures, has pointed towards a major challenge being confronted by the government to retain the students and increase enrolment in its schools.
The figures were presented in the recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting convened by Secretary Education and Literacy (SEL) in the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), to consider the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B), 2021-22 under Samagra Shiksha for J&K.
As per the official figures, the enrolment has decreased by 0.2 lakh at the primary level and 0.1 lakh at upper primary level which resulted in a decrease of 0.34 lakh enrolment at the elementary level.
“The decrease is about 0.07 lakh at secondary level and 0.04 lakh at the higher secondary level. J&K requires inclusive planning to improve enrolment through effective measures,” the official document reads.
This newspaper earlier reported that the DSEL, Government of India (GoI) asked the J&K School Education department to lay focus on improvement in learning outcomes of students, besides controlling dropout rate of the students in government schools.
“There is a need to examine the Performance Grading Index (PGI) score of the Education department in each domain and take measures to improve its overall PGI. More focus should be laid on improvement of net enrolment at secondary level at both the levels – lower secondary as well as upper secondary education,” the official document reads.
The Government of India has further stated that the challenges remain in reducing regional disparities and inequalities among the secondary school age students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
“The J&K government should analyse learning outcomes and provide interventions to improve learning outcomes of the students. More access should be given for learning opportunities and to improve learning and skills at all levels and protection for children in emergencies,” the document reads.
The SEL, while acknowledging that J&K achieved maximum grade in transition at different levels in government schools, noted that 100 percent transition was not achieved till date by the UT government.
“J&K is requested to take steps to ensure 100 percent transition rate,” it reads.
“The dropout at secondary level as per UDISE+ 2019-20 was 16.68 percent which needs to be focused on by J&K,” the document reads.
“To meet the target, J&K should expedite community based surveys identifying issues for such drop out students,” read the minutes of the meeting.
Notably, the School Education Department earlier held massive enrolment drives across J&K and claimed to have around 1 lakh new admissions in government schools.
However, the DSEL has expressed its concern over the dropout rate of students in government schools.