(This article was first published on 6 January 2025.)
“India will grow only if India reads.” But is India truly reading? Over the last two years, 1.72 crore children have dropped out of school, marking the first major decline in six years. In 2023-24, 88 lakh fewer students enrolled in government schools compared to the previous year. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra have seen the biggest drops, with Bihar alone losing 35.65 lakh students.
The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) report highlights this alarming trend. School enrollments have fallen from 26.5 crore in 2021-22 to 24.8 crore in 2023-24. Even at the primary level, enrollment has dropped by 46 lakh in the last year.
UDISE+ suggests the possible reasons for this decline:
Improved methods of data collection. Earlier, many children were dual-enrolled in government schools while studying in private schools. Now, Aadhaar verification has stopped this practice.
Reverse Migration which means during COVID-19, many families moved from cities to villages, shifting their children from private to government schools. Now, as they return to cities, they’re enrolling their children back in private schools.
However, even with these reasons, the overall enrollment rate should have increased or remained stable. This raises questions pertaining to authenticity of data in previous years.
The problem goes beyond student enrollments as the shortage of teachers is also a major concern. In India, over 110,000 schools have only one teacher, making it difficult to provide proper education.
The growing number of children leaving school and the rise in private education costs highlight a deepening divide in India's education system. The lack of sufficient teachers and the falling enrollment rates reflect a serious challenge in providing quality education for all, so Quint Hindi's Shadab Moizee asks, 'Janab, Aise Kaise?'
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