More girls dropped out of primary school in 2022 than in peak Covid years

The average dropout rate of girls in primary and upper-primary schools has increased between 2019 and 2022, the Union government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, 25 July.

Responding to questions asked by Rajya Sabha MP Sandosh Kumar of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and AAP MP Harbhajan Singh, minister of state in the ministry of education Jayant Chaudhary said that in 2021–22, 1.35 per cent of girls had dropped out of primary schools. The dropout rate in 2020–21 was 0.69 per cent and in 2019–20 was 1.24 per cent — notably, these were lower rates despite being the start and peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In upper primary schools, the dropout rate was 3.31 per cent in 2021–22. This too is higher than the dropout rate of 2.61 per cent in 2020–21 and 2.98 in 2019–2020.

However, at the secondary level, the dropout rates have reduced to 12.25 per cent in 2021–22. They were 13.71 per cent in 2020–21 and 15.07 per cent in 2019–20.

The MPs had sought a reply on the high number of dropouts in India between 2019 and 2022.

The Union government data revealed that the dropout rates of girls in primary and upper primary sections increased significantly.

Chaudhary said socio-economic issues such as “supplementing household income, attending domestic chores, not interested in studies, unable to cope with studies, a child suffering from some disability, poor health, education not considered necessary by the parents, preparation of competitive examination and marriage” are some of the major reasons behind the increasing dropout rates of primary-level schoolchildren.

Attacking the government, Kumar said the BJP government was effectively liquidating the essence of its 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padao' slogan.

“The increase in dropout rates can be attributed to worsened socio-economic conditions prevailing in India," said Kumar. "Even when the Union government says it has devised programmes, including Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the statistics expose the serious lapses in the implementation.”

According to the 2021–22 data on primary schools, Manipur recorded the highest dropout rate (13 per cent), followed by Arunachal Pradesh (9.2 per cent), Meghalaya (8.6 per cent) and West Bengal (8.3 per cent).

However, there were no dropouts from primary schools in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, though the overall secondary school dropout rates improved in 2021–22, the situation is still alarming in a few states.

The data reveals that Odisha had the highest dropout rate, of 25.2 per cent, followed by Bihar at 21.4 per cent, Assam at 20.7 per cent, Meghalaya at 20.4 per cent, West Bengal at 17.7 per cent, Gujarat at 15.9 per cent, Karnataka at 13 per cent, Telangana at 12.9 per cent, Maharashtra at 10.6 per cent and Uttar Pradesh at 10 per cent.

Only Chandigarh and Lakshadweep have had no dropouts from secondary schooling. In Kerala, the dropout rate is 4.1 per cent, while Delhi sits at 3.7 per cent, on the more positive side of the table.