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Over 35% students dropping out after class 8 in 13 UP dists: Govt data
Among the 13 UP dists, maximum 53.5 per cent students are dropping out after class 8 in Siddharthnagar district
More than 35 per cent children drop out after class 8 in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The most worrying situation is in Siddharthnagar district where over half (53.5 per cent) of children do not enrol in class 9 after passing class 8, says a report sent by the state government to the union education ministry.
The findings were even discussed during the last meeting of the Project Approval Board (PAB) of Samgara Shiksha Abhiyan in New Delhi, minutes of which were made available in public domain only on September 17.
The report concedes that the overall transition rate in the state is 87% at secondary level, which means that only 87% children of previous year grade 8 enrolment were admitted to grade 9 in 2019-20. Moreover, in case of girls’ transition rate, it is only 81.5% and girls transition rate from elementary to secondary in 13 districts is less than 65%.
The districts in which transition rate from is below 65% include Siddharthnagar (53.5%), Sitapur (56.2%), Hardoi (56.9%), Shravasti (57.1%), Sambhal (61.2%), Budaun (61.5%), Shahjahanpur(61.8%), Chitrakoot (62.4%), Farrukhabad (63.2%), Pilibhit (63.6%), Banda(64.5%), Bahraich ( 64.8%) and Basti (64.9%), say the minutes of the meeting that also finalised the annual work plan and budget of Samagra Shiksha for UP for 2021-22.
“The report sent to the union ministry of education also points out that the annual average dropout at elementary level is 2.46% in the state. For boys, dropout rate at elementary level was 1.9 % and for girls it was 3% in 2019-20. At secondary level, it is around 14.4%. For boys, dropout rate at secondary level was 14.5% and for girls it was 14.2% in 2019-20,” said a senior state education department official requesting anonymity.
In terms of gender parity index (GPI) at secondary levels, the minutes of PAB meeting duly note that GPI at secondary (0.93 per cent) and higher secondary level (0.94 per cent) in UP remains an area of concern.
“In this regard, state needs to focus specially on those districts where the gender gap in gross enrolment ratio (GER) is more than 10% at secondary level like Aligarh (25.08), Hathras (17.67), Mathura (15.19), Mainpuri (12.82), Etah (12.61), Baghpat (12.33) etc,” add the minutes of the PAB meeting a copy of which is with HT.
Academician and former vice chancellor, Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University, prof MP Dube said the districts identified as having high annual average dropout at secondary level as well as those having higher gender gap in GER at secondary level are lesser developed ones.
“The inability of educated youngsters to secure jobs based on their educational qualifications works as a major factor in parents getting reluctant to allow kids to pursue secondary or higher education. High degree of insecurity in this regard as well as the feeling that an educated youngster failing to secure a job may be reluctant to join the family trade like farming etc also acts a deterrent,” he added.
Prof Dube said there was a need to undertake district specific interventions where these problems exist like counselling of parents and students alike, providing opportunities of acquiring vocational skills for them and extending financial or material support to bright kids.
