NEW DELHI: According to the Economic Survey for 2022–23, which was presented to Parliament on Tuesday, there has been a sustained decrease in the school dropout rate and an increase in enrollment in both secondary and higher education.
According to the survey, which was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, gender parity also improved this fiscal year.
The Gross Enrollment Ratios (GER) in Class 1 to 5 as a percentage of the population between the ages of six and ten have increased throughout the course of the fiscal year (FY), for both boys and girls.
It said that “the GER in upper-primary (enrolment in class 6 to 8 as a per cent of the population in age 11–13 years), which was stable between FY-17 and FY-19, increased in FY-22.” This recovery has “reversed the downward trends between FY-17 and FY-19,” it noted.
The Economic Survey for 2022–23 noted that the GER for girls is higher than that for males in similar age groups in primary and upper-primary levels.
In FY-22, 26.5 crore students were registered in schools, with 19.4 lakh more enrolling in primary through higher secondary levels, according to the report.
According to the report, there are 22.7 lakh children with special needs (CWSN) overall in FY-22, up from 21.9 lakh in FY-21, or a 3.3% rise.
“With the exception of pre-primary, enrollment rose at all levels—primary, upper-primary, secondary, and higher secondary. Enrollment decreased from 1.1 crore in FY-21 to one crore in FY-22 at the pre-primary level “It read.
About one crore children were enrolled in pre-primary school, 12.2 crore in primary, 6.7 crore in upper primary, 3.9 crore in secondary, and 2.9 crore in higher secondary during the course of the year, it stated.
Boys’ and girls’ school dropout rates across all grade levels have steadily decreased in recent years.
According to the survey, the availability of teachers, as determined by the pupil-teacher ratio, has continually increased at all levels from FY-13 to FY-22. This statistic is negatively connected to improvements in educational quality.
According to the report, the improvement occurred between FY-13 and FY-22, going from 34.0 to 26.2 at the primary level, 23 to 19.6 at the upper-primary level, 30.0 to 17.6 at the secondary level, and 39.0 to 27.1 at the higher-secondary level.
According to the survey, more schools, more teachers who are available, and better school facilities should increase enrollment and lower dropout rates.
“Nearly 4.1 crore students are currently enrolled in higher education, up from 3.9 crore students in FY-20. Since FY-15, enrollment has increased by almost 72 lakh (21 per cent). From 1.9 crore in FY20 to 2 crore in FY21, more women are enrolled “it declared.
“The number of students enrolled in remote learning is 45.7 lakh (with 20.9 lakh females), up about 7% from FY-20 and 20% from FY-15. Based on revised 2011 population predictions, the GER for higher education was 27.3 percent in FY-21, up from 25.6 percent in FY-20 “it declared.
According to the poll, the GER for men climbed from 24.8 in FY-20 to 26.7 in FY-21, while the GER for women improved from 26.4 to 27.9 over the same time period.
