UP: 24 lakh children reduced in government schools in two years, know why the situation is worsening?

The number of children in government schools from class 1 to class 8 in UP has started declining. Despite all efforts to increase the number, the number of children has decreased for the second consecutive year. This year the number of children enrolled has decreased by 12 lakh more. In two years, 24 lakh children have decreased in government schools in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier the number had increased like this

If we leave aside these two years, before this the number of children in government schools was constantly increasing. The government was counting this among its achievements. The Basic Education Department itself had posted this on ‘X’ two years ago and said that the number of children had increased by 40 lakhs in 6 years.

On the other hand, Pratham, an organization that studies the level of education in basic schools, had mentioned the increase in the number of children in its ‘Asar’ report. This report was released on the study from 2018 to 2022 during Covid. It was told that the percentage of children between 6 to 14 years in government schools has increased from 44.7 to 59.6.

This is how the decline came

The increase in the number of children continued till 2022-23. But in the very next year, 2023-24, the number of children decreased rapidly. On this, Director General School Education Kanchan Verma wrote a letter to all BSAs and expressed concern over the reduced number of children in 2023-24. The number of children was 1.92 crore in 2022-23. This number decreased to 1.68 crore in 2023-24. On this, BSA in many districts had also issued notices to teachers and instructed to increase the number from the next session.

From April to July this year, several attempts were made to increase the number of children. The School Chalo Abhiyan was also run. But instead of increasing, the number has decreased further. The School Chalo Abhiyan ended in July. So far, only 1.56 lakh children have been admitted to government schools. Recently, the Basic Education Minister himself presented this figure in response to a question in the Legislative Assembly.

NBT Lens: Why are the numbers decreasing?

Private schools are opening continuously in every village. Parents prefer private schools over government schools. According to experts, due to financial constraints during Covid, many parents were not able to pay the fees of private schools. Therefore, they turned to government schools. When Covid ended, parents started turning to private schools. At the same time, the strictness of taking admission in class one only after completion of six years of age has also affected the numbers. Earlier, teachers used to take admission even if the age was less or more by a few months.