Enrolment in Government Schools takes a Back Seat

Seems like bad news is ringing for government schools. Between the year 2009-19 and 2010-11 the number of children who enrolled in government primary schools has dipped to twenty one lakhs however there has been a significant rise of eleven lakhs in private schools.

The areas that saw the biggest decline, are Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Delhi, saw a soaring in enrollment in both the government and private primary schools,  however, the preference was clearly given to the latter. While enrollment in government schools increased by about 14,000, the increase in private school enrollment was about 30,000.

The apparent reason for the fall could be the decline in percentage share of government schools, with the private schools (share) standing stoic at 19.4% government schools are lacking behind in quantity. The other reason could be the standard of education, that is not up to the mark for students and has been talked about time and again.

Meanwhile, The Educational Development Index, a ranking conducted by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), has now been developed keeping in mind four broad parameters  that are, access, infrastructure, teacher-related indicators and outcomes.

The index takes into account availability of schools, the average student-to-child ratio, the availability of drinking water facilities and the availability of toilets for girls and boys.