Incredible India: 4.7 Crore Children Dropping Out From School By 10th Std

We are making in India and aspiring to be a superpower while 47 million children in our country are dropping out from school before touching 10th Standard; i.e. before finishing senior or  higher secondary standards, according to a 2016 report by a UNESCO statistics institute.

The enrollment in 10th Standard is 77%, but it drops to a poor 52% in 11th Standard. This decline continues to 12th Standard and then follows into colleges, where the enrollment drops to about half, according to a report from the New Delhi-based Institute for Policy Research Studies. However, the university enrollment has increased in general since 2008-09.

Since 2012-13, the number of boys and girls in India enrolled for higher education has increased by 13% and 21% respectively, IndiaSpend reported in July 2016.

An overall increase in gross enrollment ratio at almost every level of education in India confirms that the educational system has become more accessible. In 2013-14, GERs of upper primary and secondary schools saw a rise of 13% and 17% respectively as compared to 2007-08.

In spite of this increase, still over six million children aged between 6 to 13 years are estimated to be out of the school system, as per the 2014 survey by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Most children out of school in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan

Uttar Pradesh leads this infamous ranking with 1.6 million out-of-school children, followed by Bihar and Rajasthan.

The IndiaSpend reported in June 2014 that an 18% increase in the population of young people aged 15-24 between 2001 and 2011 has resulted in a comparable increase in the country’s workforce. However, as many as 18% of 15 to 24-year-olds in India are unemployed, 5% more than the international average as per the estimations by the global youth unemployment rate of 2013.

This dropout trend will also adversely affect the newly-launched skill development courses under the Prime Minister’s Skill Development Scheme, which require some minimum educational eligibility criteria to enroll for training. Out of 29 such programmes, five require individuals to pass Grade 12 and four require educational levels higher than 12th Standard.

Source: Institute for Policy Research Studies, 2016

The post first appeared in KenFolios - Only interesting stories.