Moa Jamir
The Department of School Education (DoSE), Nagaland in notification on July 2 stated that there has been a ‘moderate increase’ in the dropout rate of students during the year 2020. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was cited as a reason behind the fall in the stunt.
This ‘moderate’ increase can be considered an ‘understatement’ from the Department given that the ‘dropout rate’ has had been a perennial challenge for Nagaland. The latest ‘Report on United Information System for Education Plus’ (UDISE+) 2019-20 released by the Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on July 1 affirmed the same and underscored why DoSE needs to make concerted efforts to check the dropout rates.
The report is based on voluntary uploading of data by the schools having active UDISE+ codes in a reference year, with 30th September as the reference date, using specially designed data collection formats (DCF).
Take the case of dropout rate, described by the UDISE+ report as, “Proportion of pupil from a cohort enrolled in a given level at a given school year who are no longer enrolled at any grade in the following school year.”
Among the 38 States and Union Territories (UTs) in India, Nagaland had the 6th highest dropout rate at 4.2% against the national average of 1.5% at the Primary level. (Classes 1 to 5)
At the Elementary level (1 to 8), the dropout increased to 5.4% against the national average of 2.6% and 4th highest in India
While the dropout rate across India was high with the All-India average of 16.1%, it was 8th highest in Nagaland at 21.2%.
Another status, the retention rate, defined as “Percentage of a cohort of pupils (or schools) enrolled in a first grade of a given level of education in a given school year who are expected to reach the last grade of the level” further reflected an enormous challenge.
The retention rate of 65.6% in Nagaland at the Primary level was the third lowest in India, with Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram assuming the first and second lowest positions respectively. The national average was 87%.
At Elementary level, the retention rate lowered further to 47.1%, the second-lowest in India after Arunachal Pradesh. The All-India retention rate was 74.6%.
In parallel with the dropout rates, it dropped further to 32.0% at Secondary (9-10) and 21.1% in Higher Secondary (11-12), to assume respectively 2nd and 5th lowest position in India. The national averages for Secondary and Higher Secondary levels were 59.6% and 40.2% respectively.
The NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2021 India Index and Performance Grading Index (PGI) released in June also reflected the problem at the secondary level with the former showing an annual dropout rate level of class 9-10 at 24%, against the national average of 17.87% while in the latter, the retention rate was lowest (7/10) for Nagaland.
Accordingly, the DoSE issues a slew of directives for schools in Nagaland to address the issue including an extension of the timeline for admissions to all classes up to August 13 as well as a Special Admission Drive from July 5 to August 13.
School heads were also to contact parents/guardians of dropout students with the help of teachers, NGOs, student bodies and church leaders and encourage admitting their children to appropriate classes and resumption of schooling.
Public leaders, NGOs, student bodies and church leaders were also urged to create awareness among parents of dropout students and to assist them in getting the children admitted to the nearest Government schools.
This a step in the right direction, but apart from admission, the DoSE must ensure continuity and must holistically analyse the reason why students are dropping out and adopt appropriate corrective measures to address the issue.
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