Sandeep Mishra
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: In Orissa, around 67,767 primary, upper primary and secondary schools that are either run or aided by the state government are failing to meet their explicit dual goal: that of arresting the dropout rate and focus on increasing enrolments.
Data obtained from a recent report released by the Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA) reveals that the government is failing on both counts.
During 2012-13, enrolment in Classes I to VII stood at 53,95,280, which later trickled down to 52,94,683 during 2013-14. Similarly, institutions under the school and mass education department also showed a drop in enrolment during the same period with the number coming down from 50,34,312 to 49,24,453.
Overall enrolment trends showed a decrease of 34,358 students in two years. A decrease of 18,360 girl students was reported while a decrease of 16,133 students from the Scheduled Castes (SC) community came to light. The only takeaway was the marginal rise in enrolments of students from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) community, with the number going up by 27,803 in government schools.
“Officials of the school and mass education department are working hard on arresting the dropout rate. But hardly anyone is focusing on increasing the number of enrolments, which is equally important if not more. Schemes such as mid-day meal, bicycles for girl students and more have been launched, but are still failing to attract students of higher classes to school,” said a teacher.
The gross enrolment ratio dropped sharply to 68.65 per cent in 2013-14 as against 77.03 per cent in 2012-13. In 2011-12, it was still a healthy 75.03 per cent. The net enrolment ratio also came down to 56.70 per cent during 2013-14 as against 66.49 per cent in 2012-13 and 62.14 per cent in 2011-12.
“Infrastructure and teaching should be given top priority if the state government is serious about uplifting the status of our school education. But looking at the current scenario, it does not seem as if the state is doing enough to develop this sector,” said an official in the school and mass education department seeking anonymity.
Despite an overall decrease in dropout rates, data showed that in 2012-13, nearly 19,000 students were dropouts while in 2013-14, the figure stood at 6,000 students. “The state has introduced schemes such as Setu for controlling dropout rates. District officials have also been asked to keep a close watch on students who drop out of school and make all-round efforts to bring them back to mainstream education,” said an official of Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA).
Among primary schools, Kandhamal was the worst-performer by registering a dropout rate of 5.62 as against the state’s average of 1.97. “Recently, we have planned to develop a database where we will monitor dropout and enrolment rates. We need to control them to a large extent,” said a senior official of OPEPA.
In 2012-13, as many as 6,001 students remain out of school of which 2,817 students were girls, 713 students belonged to the SC community, 2,870 students from the ST community while 17 students belonged to other minority communities.
“We have even been providing transport facilities to students living in remote areas upon finding out that transport is a major obstacle in going to school. That initiative is hoped to bring success in arresting dropout rates. Guidelines have been issued and ground officials are putting in all-round efforts to ensure students stay at school and do not abandon their education midway. Special efforts are being made in tribal areas,” said another official.
Another report of the department revealed that in 2013-14, nearly 43,386 schools did not have electricity, 41,706 did not have playgrounds, and 1,714 schools did not have drinking water facilities. Also, 12,364 schools do not have a boy’s toilet while 7,497 schools lack girls’ toilets.
As many as 17,060 schools further have no ramp facility for differently-abled students. At 15,294 schools, students have to sit on the ground and study while in 267 schools, students have to study in the open. Nearly 17,979 schools do not even have boundary walls.
