Maharashtra: No. of private schools go up by 73 per cent in 10 years

Even as the number of schools in the state has increased in the past nine years government school figures have seen a decline as per a survey by the Bombay University and College Teachersrsquo Union BUCTU which has pointed to a systematic and marked shift in the school education system across Maharashtra Meanwhile the number of private schools in the state has increased by 73 per cent during the same period The report also pointed out that the enrolment in schools between Std I and VIII has witnessed a decline of around three lakh students or 193 per cent in the academic year 20202021The trend was different in secondary and higher secondary schools with enrolments in secondary schools seeing an increase while the same for higher secondary schools remained stagnantAlso read Mumbai Maintenance cost of civic schools doubles in five yearsEnrolment in secondary schools saw a slight uptick while that in higher secondary schools remained stagnant File picAs per data the total number of schools in Maharashtra increased from 100081 in 201112 to 110114 in 202021 recording an increase of 101 per centThere has been a marked shift in the structural composition of schools as the number of government schools has declined from 69781 in 201112 to 65734 in 202021 a 58 per cent dip Meanwhile during the same period the number of private unaided schools witnessed a sharp rise from 11348 to 19632 recording a rise of 73 per cent the report revealedTrend same in country tooIn the survey by BUCTU enrolment data was also sourced from United District Information System for Education UDISE Maharashtra Prathmik Shikshan Parishad and from the economic survey of MaharashtraThis dip in the number of government schools is not prevalent in only Maharashtra but the entire country too As per the school education departmentrsquos UDISE Plus reports the number of government schools across the country declined from 1083678 in 201819 to 1032049 in 202021 Most of the schools which were closed were primaryelementary schools Meanwhile the number of private schools in the country increased from 325760 in 201819 to 340753 in 202021Need concrete stepsldquoThe idea of including school education in our survey was to point out how enrolment has been hit at the very grassroots level and it will later in a few years affect higher education The trend has yet again exposed the governmentrsquos failure in investing in government schools Many things can be done to revive government schools This is high time and the government needs to take concrete steps to save the government education system Schools do not have basic amenities and no qualified teachers this has led to a public shift of interest from government schools to private schools In Mumbai many schools were revived by BMCrdquo said Madhu Paranjape general secretary of BUCTU and coauthor of the studyActivists and educationists say the situation may become worse in the coming year and the government school system may come to an endPandemic effectIn the academic year 201112 16175720 students were enrolled in schools across the state from Std I to VIII which dropped to 15693542 in 201920 recording a 3 per cent decline in a period of eight years or 038 per cent every year on average However the number dropped a further 193 per cent in 202021 when the pandemic was at its peak the report revealedFrom the academic year 201112 to 201920 it has been revealed that the number of students in Stds I to V decreased by 485 lakh ldquoThat is in eight years the number of students decreased by 469 per cent at a rate of around 059 per cent per year However the number of students decreased by 31 per cent in just one year during the pandemicrdquo Paranjape said adding that this is a matter of concern and requires a deeper studyArundhati Chavan president of PTA United Forum said ldquoTakers for regionalmedium schools are declining over the years Most of the governmentrun schools are Marathi or Hindi medium while people opt for English medium schools more Another factor is people preferring ICSE CBSE and even international boards over the state board At the same time government schools are struggling with no nonsalary grants and posts of teachers not approved in time Parents are left with no option but to choose private schools If the government upgrades the schools and offers better facilities parents will want to enrol their children in government schoolsrdquoSteps takenldquoWhile it is true that the number of government schools is declining it is because the number of enrolments is going down It is not true that the government is not doing anything to revive the schools or attract students For example Mission Zero Dropout was undertaken by the state school education department from July 5 to 20 to identify dropouts migrant children and those not attending schools regularly Thousands of civic school teachers were part of the campaign Around 2757 students who had dropped out for various reasons will return to mainstream schoolsrdquo said a senior official from the state school education and sports department101 per centRise in number of schools in state from 201112 to 202021193 per centDrop in enrolment till Std VIII in 202021