Status of School Education in India: Observations based on Recent Data

  

Arun C Mehta

Formally Professor & Head of EMIS Department

NIEPA, New Delhi (India)

(E-mail: acmehta100@gmail.com)

 

Introduction

It may be recalled that U-DISE is the main source of information on school education in India which has also attained the status of the Official Statistics from the year 2012-13 onwards. It may also be observed that from the year 2018-19, U-DISE was shifted from NIEPA to Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education/HRD which had managed it since the inception in 1994-95 to 2017-18.  By now 2020-21 data must have been in the public domain but the same along with 2019-20 data is yet to be made available because of which 2018-19 is the latest set of data available in the public domain but the same is not complete as most of the indicators used to be disseminated at disaggregated levels previously is simply not available or are being added in installments on its online portal.   Even the number of schools, enrolment and teachers presented on U-DISE+ portal has changed. Also the Performance Grading Index (PGI) based on 2018-19 data computed by the ministry was also initially based on incomplete set of U-DISE+ 2018-19 data. Given these limitations, U-DISE 2017-18 data is the latest year but the same till recently was also yet to be disseminated by NIEPA (Readied in August 2018 now uploaded on April 2021 without ritual Foreword and From the VC’s Desk). Fortunately, through the U-DISE Reporter Module, raw as well as processed data for 2017-18 was available which has been used in the present note in knowing the status of School Education in India (later even link to download 2017-18 data was removed). Through the U-DISE+ portal, the number of schools, enrolment and teachers for 2018-19 with a few selective indicators is available in the public domain which has also been used wherever necessary (http://dashboard.udiseplus.gov.in/#!/reports). It is also important to mention that the process of 2020-21 U-DISE data collection must have been initiated on 30^th September 2020 (now states are in process of inititing the same in April 2021) but the same is yet to be initiated in view of which the time-lag in the availability of educational statistics which was brought down to less than a year at the district and state levels and a year at the national level has again started increasing. The practice of using the same years' data in formulating Annual Work Plans & Budget (AWP&B) under SSA/RMSA/Samagra Shiksha and their appraisal during the Project Approval Board meeting has already been forfeited by more than two years which is a big setback to the process of strengthening EMIS in the Country but as it seems that it is not an issue to anyone, no one has raised the issue of widening gap between the data collection and data dissemination. Not a single publication based on U-DISE+ 2018-19 data has yet been brought out by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education which was otherwise a regular feature when the same was managed by the NIEPA, New Delhi.

A cursory look at the available information prima facia one gets the impression that not much improvement is visible as most of the indicators reflecting on different aspects of universal school education look almost stationary for the last ten years and there is no evidence that the rich dataset is being optimally utilized in formulating district plans which is otherwise an annual exercise and is being applied to all the districts of the Country. In addition, a huge decline in enrolment in general and primary classes, in particular, has adversely affected efforts being made to gain the target of universal enrolment. Since 2009, the year in which the Right to Education Act 2009 was enacted, district plans lack targets on different aspects of universalization which were otherwise regular features of plans developed previously; they were Gross and Net enrolment ratios, retention and transition rates, entry rates, and dropout rates and other such indicators reflecting on different aspects of universalization. Instead, local authorities are supposed to identify out-of-school children annually and impart them special training duration of which vary from 3 months to 2 years and made them to sit in the age-appropriate grades which are hard to be seen and is true for across the Country.

In this note, only critical indicators that influence universal school education have been analyzed apart from the basic information regarding coverage of schools in terms of enrolment and a host of a few other indicators.

Coverage

As against 15,35,610 schools covered in U-DISE 2016-17, as many as 15,58,940 schools spread over 721 districts from 7,457 blocks in  82,952 clusters located in 5,94,130 villages were covered during the year 2017-18; thus showing an increase of 23,330 schools (1.52 percent) against which a total of only 15,51,000 schools are reported to have been covered during 2018-19

Table 1

Coverage of Schools in 2018-19 (U-DISE+) over 2017-18 (U-DISE)*

Particular	Government	Aided	Private Unaided	Others	Total
Number of Schools
Number of schools ,2017-18	10,94,536	84,422	3,22,242	57,740	15,58,940
Number of schools ,2018-19	10,83,747	84,623	3,26,228	55,954	15,51,000
Absolute change in terms of number (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-10,789	201	3,986	-1,786	-7,940
Change in terms of percentage (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-0.99	0.24	1.24	-3.09	-0.51
Total Teachers
Number of teachers ,2017-18	49,79,795	8,40,728	30,72,133	3,63,445	92,56,101
Number of teachers ,2018-19	49,47,608	8,19,847	33,04,373	3,58,911	94,30,839
Absolute change in terms of number (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-32,187	-20,881	2,32,240	-4,534	1,74,738
Change in terms of percentage (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-0.65	-2.48	7.56	-1.25	1.89
Total Enrolment
Enrolment ,2017-18	13,17,55,633	2,79,88,914	8,33,08,685	79,17,112	25,09,70,344
Enrolment ,2018-19	12,87,16,369	2,75,30,022	8,41,22,799	79,69,394	24,83,38,584
Absolute change in terms of number (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-30,39,264	-4,58,892	8,14,114	52,282	-26,31,760
Change in terms of percentage (2017-18 to 2018-19)	-2.31	-1.64	0.98	0.66	-1.0

*Total may not match because of recognized and unrecognized madarsas which is not considered. Data has been downloaded from the official portals of U-DISE & U-DISE+ from time to time.

through U-DISE+; thus showing a decline of 7,940 schools (0.51 percent). Schools by management further show that the decline in coverage of schools is limited to Government schools which is to the tune of 10,789 schools (0.99 percent) which is also resulted in a decline in the total number of teachers (32.187, 0.65 percent) and enrolment (30,39,264, 2.31 percent) in 2018-19 over the previous year i.e. 2017-18; thus indicating an under the coverage of the total schools in 2018-19 through U-DISE+ operations that need thorough investigation and explanation. Decline in 2018-19 is a bit higher if the Government Aided schools are considered: Teachers:  20,881 (2.48 percent) & Enrolment: 4,58,892 (1.64 percent). In addition, U-DISE also covers unrecognized schools and Madrass all which  had also declined in 2018-19. On the other hand, schools (3,986 schools), as well as teachers (2,32,240 teachers) and enrolment (8,14,114 enrolment) in private unaided schools, have shown an increasing trend during the same period. Decline in coverage is mainly because of decline in number of schools in Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand against increase in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The decline in schools, teachers, and enrolment in 2018-19 through U-DISE+ operations raises serious concern about of quality of data been collected (coverage, quality, sharing, consistency, dissemination in terms of publications, and timely & optimal utilization of data so collected) which need a thorough explanation as the same has serious implication for India to move towards the goal of universal school enrolment. Before 2020-21 data collection, a large number of schools across India are now approaching U-DISE+ authorities to obtain 11-digit unique identification code many of which also had approached during the previous year but because of the procedure adopted (approval at the state level), most of them remain uncovered. U-DISE up to 2017-18 was being managed by the academicians supported by professionals which is lacking now in U-DISE+ which is being managed by technical persons having lacking in understanding of basic concepts of education, educational indicators and even concept of an MIS. The decline in enrolment would adversely affect all enrolment based indicators which if analyzed at the disaggregated level may reveal more about the status of universal school education in India.

Facility Indicators

As has already been mentioned that most of the facility indicators remain almost stagnant (Table 2) in the recent past.  All schools (I to XII, 15,58,903 schools) together revels that more than 98 percent of schools in 2017-18 had a school building; the lowest percentage of such schools is observed in the case of Secondary Schools consisting only Grades IX and X (92.30 percent) and the highest 99.14 percent in case of integrated Higher Secondary schools but in absolute terms, the number is limited to only 52,833 schools of the total 15,58,903 schools. However, U-DISE+ reported that 9,410 (0.61 percent) of the total 15,51,000 schools reported not having school building in 2018-19 majority of which are the schools run by the Department of Education (5,131 schools, 54.53 percent). 

Despite improved facilities, still a majority of schools in India didn’t have electricity connection, computer facility and internet connection which are crucial in imparting online education/learning in digital mode because of the ongoing pandemic in view of which the next section deals with a detailed analysis of schools having computer and internet connectivity which is also crucial for online U-DISE+.

Table 2

Facility Indicators: All India, 2017-18

Facilities	Total	Facilities	Total
Building	98.24	Ramp	62.12
Boundary Wall	56.15	Physics Laboratory	39.49
Separate Room for HM/ Principal	55.53	Chemistry Laboratory	39.22
Electricity connection	63.14	Biology Laboratory	37.46
Library	77.38	Computer Laboratory	45.17
Librarian	6.72	Mathematics Laboratory	15.47
Playground	62.17	Language Laboratory	9.79
Computer	29.57	Geography Laboratory	15.24
Functional Computer	13.07	Home Science Laboratory	9.03
Internet Connection	13.61	Psychology  Laboratory	4.48
Drinking Water Facility(Functional)	90.1	Integrated Science Lab	47.8
Functional Drinking Water Facility	86.07

                      Source: U-DISE 2017-18, NIEPA, New Delhi

 Schools having Electricity & Computer Facility: 2017-18

Schools having electricity connection, computer, functional computer, and internet connection presented at the all-India level for the year 2017-18 and in a few selected states reveals that our schools are not equipped to meet challenges caused by the pandemic. Even the basic requirement such as, the electricity connection is yet to be provided to the majority of schools which is true for both the rural and urban areas. A glance at the Table 3 reveals that of the total 1.5 million schools engaged in school education in the country, only 63.14 percent of schools have got the electricity connection compared to a little more than 50 percent of such primary schools. It is also true that just schools having electricity connections don’t necessarily mean that schools get an uninterrupted power supply. It has also been observed in the past that schools generally do not have separate funds to pay electricity bills because of which generally observed that even schools have a connection but they do not have power in school. Maybe The Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana launched by the Prime Minister will help electricity reach our remaining schools.