img

The Integrated District Information System for Education (UDISE) of the Ministry of Education has reported a decline in school enrollment for the academic year 2023-24. According to the report, enrollment in schools across the country has declined by 37 lakh in the academic year 2023-24. This data aggregation platform collects school education data from across the country. 

Decline in numbers

According to the report, the number of students enrolled in 2022-23 was 25.17 crore, for 2023-24 this number was 24.80 crore. In this, the number of girl students declined by 16 lakh, while the number of boys declined by 21 lakh. The representation of minorities in the total enrollment was about 20 percent. Among the minorities, 79.6 percent were Muslims, 10 percent Christians, 6.9 percent Sikhs, 2.2 percent Buddhists, 1.3 percent Jains and 0.1 percent Parsis.

The data collection process involved voluntary submission of Aadhaar numbers, which helped identify 'ghost students' and transfer benefits to eligible students. However, officials have clarified that the data has seen some substantive changes compared to previous years, as this exercise of maintaining a separate student base is different, unique and incomparable from 2021-22 or earlier years.

"The individual student-wise data reflects a realistic and more accurate picture of the education system, which is being attempted for the first time at the national level, as opposed to the school-wise consolidated data collected till 2021-22. Hence, the data is not strictly comparable to previous reports on various educational indicators such as GER, NER, dropout rates, etc," a senior official explained.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) compares enrolment in a specific level of education to the population in the age group that is most age-appropriate for that education level. "Reducing school dropouts and ensuring universal access to education at all levels by 2030 is one of the primary goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Areas such as student enrolment and retention show how many students who enter school in Class-1 are persisting in subsequent years, which indicates the effectiveness of the policy

--Advertisement--