With parents preferring to get their children admitted in private schools, there is a steady decline in the students’ strength in the Government schools in Odisha.
As per the latest report of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), there is a considerable shift in enrolment from Government schools to private ones in the State.
The report reveals that the enrolment in private schools increased by 3.26 lakh children at the elementary level during 2010-11 to 2015-16. The total decline in the enrolment at the elementary level in Government and Government-aided schools during this period was 6.20 lakh children.
So, it is high time that the State Government looked into the reasons for such a considerable shift in enrolment in private schools, said Union School Education & literacy Secretary Anil Swarup.
Swarup, who would visit the State in the last week of this month, recently reviewed the flagship programmes of the MHRD’s Department of School Education & literacy (DoSEl) being implemented in Odisha.
During the discussion, it came to notice that while the Odisha Government is supposed to strive to achieve the norm of teachers in all schools, a minimum requirement has been prescribed to ensure that there is no single-teacher school at all.
However, as per Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE)-2015-16, it has come to light that in Odisha there are 1,947 Primary and 77 Upper Primary Schools that have single teachers.
Additionally, only 4,815 Upper Primary Schools in the State fulfil the prescribed norm of having at least one subject teacher. Moreover, 18, 793 Upper Primary Schools do not have subject teachers at all.
The MHRD report card says the State is doing well in terms of retention and other indicators, but it is not performing well in terms of quality learning.
The National Achievement Survey (NAS) reveals that in Class-V, only 31 per cent children in language and 37 per cent in Mathematics could achieve more than 50% marks. Similarly, only 16 per cent children in Mathematics and 23 per cent children in Science could achieve more than 50% marks in Class-VIII.
It has been pointed out that achievement level of students in Class-V for Mathematics, Environmental Science and language also declined during the 2015 survey compared to the survey done in 2012.
So, for improvement of quality learning, it is essential for the State Government to prepare a roadmap so that children can perform better at the Grade Appropriate level.