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The decline is steeper than pre-pandemic levels. The Education Ministry said the numbers are “incomparable” due to the new data collection strategy
The data shows that when compared with the period between 2018-19 and 2021-22, the decline in enrollment – for the first time since Covid-19 – will exceed 1 crore between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Has been. (Image: PTI/File)
The number of students enrolled in schools across India has declined by 37 lakh in 2023-2024 compared to the previous academic session, and by more than 1 crore between 2022 and 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels. 2018-2019, according to a report published by the Ministry of Education.
This report, Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), is an important tool to track enrollment in schools from pre-primary to secondary stages. States directly feed data on various parameters of school education including enrolment, number of teachers and schools on this portal.
According to the UDISE+ report, 24.8 crore students took admission in 2023-2024, while in 2022-2023 this figure stood at 25.18 crore. Figures for the last four years – 26.52 crore (2021-2022), 26.44 crore (2020-2021), 26.45 crore (2019-2020) and 26.03 crore (2018-2019) – show that the average total enrollment was around 26.36 crore. ,
The data shows that when compared to the period between 2018-2019 (the reference year for UDISE+ data) and 2021-2022, enrollment will decline – for the first time since the pandemic – in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. It has been more than 1 crore between. ,
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Also, the number of female students declined by 16 lakh, while the number of male students declined by 21 lakh during the period under review. The representation of minorities was about 20 percent of the total enrolment.
Some states have seen a larger decline in 2023-24 compared to 2018-19. In Bihar this number is 35.65 lakh, in Uttar Pradesh this number is 28.26 lakh while in Maharashtra this number is 18.55 lakh.
Among social categories, compared to the last academic year, the total enrollment of Other Backward Class (OBC) students has declined by at least 25 lakh, while in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category the number is 12 lakh.
Total enrolled SC students in 2023-2024 were 4.47 crore while in 2022-2023 the figure was 4.59 crore. While 11.2 crore students enrolled in the OBC category in 2023-2024, it was 11.45 crore in 2022-2023.
‘New strategy of data collection’
However, the report said, “The data for 2023-2024 shows few real changes compared to previous years as this exercise of maintaining a separate student base (used this year) will not be fully implemented in 2021-2022 or from previous years.” Different, unique and incomparable. ,
“The individual student-wise data reflects a realistic and more accurate picture of the education system, which has been attempted for the first time at the national level, a departure from the school-wise consolidated data till 2021-2022 and, hence, UDISE+ 2022-2023 The data is not strictly comparable with previous reports on various educational indicators like gross enrollment ratio (GER), net enrollment rate (NER) and dropout rate etc.”
The GER compares enrollment in a specific level of education with the population in the age group that is most appropriate for that level of education. The new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to achieve 100 per cent GER at various levels of school education by 2030.
With effect from 2023-2024, the school ecosystem has been reclassified into new academic and curricular structure – Basic (Pre-Primary + Primary), Elementary (Partially Primary), Middle (Upper Primary), Secondary (Secondary + Higher Secondary). With NEP 2020 Recommendation. As a result, education indicators have also been reclassified from the previous 10+2 educational framework to a 5+3+3+4 structure format.
Accordingly, the UDISE+ Report 2023-24 has been restructured, and schools, teachers, students and other educational indicators have been reported as per the NEP 2020 aligned structure.
The report further states that the availability of schools, teachers and enrolled students varies from state to state. “In states like Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP), Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal PradeshIn Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, the percentage of available schools is higher than the percentage of enrolled students, which means that the available schools are underutilized. Whereas in states like Telangana, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Bihar, the percentage of schools available compared to enrolled students is significantly lower, indicating better utilization of infrastructure.
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