There is a decline in drop-out rates among schoolgirls: Centre tells Parliament

Union minister Annpurna Devi on Monday told the Parliament that drop-out rates among schoolgirls fell to 1.2 percent at the primary level in 2019-20 while they dropped to 15.1 percent from 17 percent in 2018-19 and 18.4 percent in 2017-18 at the secondary level.

This response by the Union minister comes after Congress Member of Parliament DK Suresh’s question in Lok Sabha whether there has been an increase in drop-out rate during the last three years. Devi cited data from the Union education ministry’s database UDISE/UDISE and added it shows that it has been decreasing consistently.

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According to Devi, Bihar accounted for the highest drop-out rate in three years – 13.3 percent (2017-18), 12.9 percent (2018-19), and 9.2 percent (2019-20) – at the upper-primary level.

However, Assam had the highest drop-out rate in 2017-18 and 2019-20 at the secondary education level (35.2% and 32.9%). Arunachal Pradesh reported the highest dropout rate in 2018-19 (35%).

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The Union minister further said schools have been opened in neighbourhoods, while students have been provided free textbooks and uniforms up to Class 7 as well as gender-segregated toilets as part of efforts to promote education among girls.

She also said that to reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas have been sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks. “These schools are residential from classes 6 to 12 for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups.” Devi said there are 10, 5018 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas across the country in which 665000 girls are enrolled.

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“Additionally, all States and UTs [Union territories] have been requested to proactively track girls as well as transgender children, who are not enrolled in schools or have dropped out of school without completing their school education and get them admitted in age-appropriate classes in schools,” Devi said in her written reply.

The statement came after a UNICEF report suggested an increase in the drop-out rates among girl students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report cited a poll and added that 38 percent of respondents said they know of a girl who dropped out of school after or during the pandemic.

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As many as 33 percent of the respondents said the girls who dropped out are now engaged in domestic work, while 25 percent of them claimed they were now married.