English, cost of education in private schools among reasons for dropout: Study

Representation picCommunication in English cost of extra curricular activities and inadequate reimbursement on education expenditures are major reasons for students from economically weaker sections and disadvantaged groups dropping out of private schools in Delhi says a study by NCPCR The study on Implementation of Section 121 c of Right To Education Act 2009 in Delhi pertaining to Admission of Children from Disadvantaged Sections in Private Schools also found that the dropout rate in 2011 was around 26 per cent which came down to 10 per cent in 2014The section 12 1 c of the RTE Act fixes the responsibility of private unaided schools to provide free and compulsory education to children from weaker and disadvantaged sections by admitting at least onefourth of the total strength of class 1 or preschool education In the initial phase in 2011 the dropout rate was at around 26 per cent which has come down to 10 per cent in 2014 but shows no major progress after that The dropout percentage particularly at the entry level class ie primary and preprimary and major share of the dropout is at the primary level according to the study conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR The study by the apex body for protection of child rights in India was based on data submitted by 650 schools across Delhi on yearwise dropout ratesThe study highlights that one of the main excuses given by a school is that after allotment under EWS category parents did not show interest for admission while the institute also did not try to followup with them Due to lack of followup by the school or authorities the seats remain vacant it said Parents claimed that books and extracurricular activities cost a lot which pushed them to leave school the study said It also flagged concern over another trend noticed about dropouts that schools have no clarity on what next steps they need to follow in case the EWSDG category students leave school or dont join at allAccording to documents collected by the NCPCR during onsite visit of schools in case the child does not join their school at all then it needs to send a notification to the DoE stating that the student allotted to them has not joined and the seat is empty but it is not practiced when the student leaves in between for personal reason As per the analysis of the data it is clear that most of the schools dont take any initiative to fill the empty seats while few try filling it with general category studentsThe schools quote absence of proper guidelines from the DoE to maintain the ratio till class 8 as a reason of not taking admission after entry class the study said However section 12 1 c clearly states that the school shall admit in class 1 to the extent of 25 per cent of total strength of that class and provide education till completion of elementary education The RTE Act 2009 nowhere restricts the schools from taking admission in any other elementary level class to maintain the 25 per cent ratio it said According to the guideline of the Directorate of Education all schools are allotted an amount of Rs 1598 per EWS student per month as tuition fee reimbursement For books and uniforms all schools are expected to fill in details of the expenditure incurred in a given format and submit it to the DoEThe amount claimed gets reimbursed via cheque to the school and is then distributed to the students The schools are supposed to submit utilisation certificate within a month of the receipt of the cheque Parents have complained that cost of books and extra curricular activity is too high and the reimbursement amount is not enough the study said It quoted a parent as saying that I pay around Rs 3100 per quarter to the school for my son Apart from that I spend about Rs 12000 on his books His uniform cost is extra In case the school takes the child for picnic I pay for itOne of the major reasons for higher cost of books in private schools is the violation of section 29 1 of the RTE Act ie when the curriculum and evaluation procedure laid down by the academic authority is not followed according to the study Suggesting the way forward the NCPCR stressed then need for conducting regular orientation programmes for teachers and principals on how to include the children in EWSDG category in the mainstream It said similar to inservice training of government school teachers training of private school teachers should be conducted by respective schools through the District Institutes for Education and Training DIETsNoting that section 12 2 of the RTE Act states that the total expenditure on education has to be reimbursed by the State it said these children should be included in important cocurricular activities conducted in the school The NCPCR also suggested that the medium of instruction should as far as possible be mother tongue and schools should make efforts for multilingual teaching besides prescribing NCERT books and their use be strictly implemented especially in schools 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