GOVT RURAL SCHOOLS LOST 1.95 LAKH STUDENTS IN THREE YEARS

CHANDIGARH : The student enrolment in government schools in rural areas across Punjab fell by roughly 1.95 lakh in three years. The sharp drop in enrolment in rural schools was reported between 2014-15 and 2016-17, according to Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data tabled by Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar in Lok Sabha two days ago.

In academic year 2014-15, there were 22.4 students in elementary and secondary classes of 17,988 government schools in rural areas and their number fell to 21.34 lakh in 2015-16. It reduced to 20.45 lakh in 2016-17.

Though the minister shared the UDISE data collated by the National University of Education Planning and Administration (NUEPA) till 2016-17, the drop in enrolment in elementary and secondary classes has continued in subsequent years.

The school education department, which started the ‘Padho Punjab, Padhao Punjab’ project more than a year ago to improve the quality of education in its schools, has launched an enrolment drive, ‘Each One-bring One’, across the state.

The state government has also asked a 12-member expert committee headed by Punjabi University vice-chancellor Dr BS Ghuman, which is formulating the state education policy, to study the reasons for the dip in enrolment in government and government-aided schools and suggest strategy for reversing the trend, including enrolment of out-of-school and never enrolled children.