Praja Foundation reveals despite modern teaching facilities, the number of civic students leaving has been increasing
A high budgetary allocation and introduction of modern teaching facilities, like a tab for every student, haven’t managed to stem the steady flow of children dropping out of schools run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation - 29,186 civic students have left in the last year.
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And despite "crores being spent on providing facilities" to students, "no good facilities to students" has been cited as the major reason for the rising dropout rate. These revelations surfaced when the Praja Foundation released its report on the state of civic education in Mumbai.
Worrying numbers
Key findings include a 21 per cent drop (90,902) in total enrolment rates in civic schools from 2012-13 to 2016-17, and it is expected to drop further, as per the report. The percentage gap in civic and other school students passing the SSC exams, on the other hand, has increased drastically - from 8.35 per cent in March 2016 to 22.89 per cent in March 2017.
The report stated, "The annual budget allocation continues to stay constant, the same as last year, ie Rs 3,43,621. Per child allocation, however, has risen to Rs 52,142 from Rs 49,835 last year. Even as so much is allocated to BMC’s education sector, there’s hardly any concern over it, hardly any questions are raised on education in corporation’s meetings. And those that are raised are on naming schools."
From the Foundation
Project Director of Praja Foundation, Milind Mhaske, said, "The analysis of Std I municipal school enrolment shows that if the current rate of fall in enrolment continues, only 16,275 students will have enrolled in Std I in 2020-21 compared to 63,392 in 2008-09. This is a huge drop. While BMC has made attempts to mitigate this dropout rate by introducing a system of semi-English schools, it is yet to show any impact. These schools too show a high dropout rate of 8 per cent in 2016-17."
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