Admissions to junior classes in city dipped last year: Govt data

Stakeholders and academicians attributed the fall in numbers to Covid-19 related health concerns among parents and the mass migrations triggered by lockdowns and restrictions.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, fewer students enrolled in pre-primary classes and class 1 in Delhi schools, as compared to the year before that, showed the Union government’s Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) 2020-21 report released on Wednesday. Stakeholders and academicians attributed the fall in numbers to Covid-19 related health concerns among parents and the mass migrations triggered by lockdowns and restrictions.

The number of enrolments in pre-primary classes across all schools stood at 248,340 in 2020-21. This was a reduction from the previous year when the number stood at 293,026.  (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

The report, released by the Union ministry of education, covers data from both private and government schools.

The total number of enrolments in pre-primary classes across all schools (government, government-aided and private) stood at 248,340 in 2020-21, according to the UDISE+ report. This was a reduction of 44,686 from the previous year (2019-20) when the number stood at 293,026.

“Although the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is cross-cutting, this is particularly noticed in the enrolment of young and vulnerable kids like pre-primary, class 1 and children with special needs (CWSN) which may be attributed to the postponement of admissions due to Covid-19,” the report released on Wednesday stated.

Stakeholders said the decline in enrolment of younger children was due to the deferment of admission by parents, who had pandemic-associated health concerns, as well as the migration crisis.

“Parents were fearful of Covid-19 due to which they didn’t see much merit in taking admission, especially in the smaller grades. Many parents were also of the view that learning will not take place in an efficient manner in the online mode. In private schools, especially, parents may have avoided admitting wards as they did not want to pay for online classes,” said Awdhesh Kumar Jha, principal, Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya, Sector 8, Rohini.

Jha added that the pandemic-induced lockdown and other curbs also triggered a migration of people to their respective home towns due to which education of children in the pre-primary level took a back seat.

According to the report, 99,005 students enrolled in the pre-primary level in government schools in 2020-21. This was a fall of 657 from the previous year, when the number stood at 99,662.

The number of enrolments in pre-primary classes also declined at private unaided schools. In 2020-21, the number of students enrolled at the pre-primary level stood at 148,333, while the previous year saw 192,282 students taking admission in these grades.

Enrolment of students in class 1 also declined across all schools. In 2020-21, the number of students who took admission in class 1 stood at 327,883, as against 281,358 who took admission in 2019-20 .

The number of enrolments of children with special needs also declined across all schools. While 29,798 students enrolled in schools in 2019-20, the number stood at 28,169 in 2020-21, the UDISE+ report stated.

While there was a decline in pre-primary and class 1 enrolments in government schools, the overall enrolment in government schools in the capital increased in 202-21, the report said. The total enrolment in grades from pre-primary till class 12 stood at 2,542,240 in 2020-21, while the same was 2,409,441 in 2019-20, the UDISE report said.