Madhya Pradesh: Enrollment in Classes 1-8 in government schools falls to almost half in 2020-21

BHOPAL: The enrollment of students from Classes 1 to 8 in government schools has fallen to almost half in Madhya Pradesh during the past one decade, the state Assembly was informed on Monday. The enrollment in these classes fell from 105.30 in 2010-11 to 64.34 lakh in 2020-21, MP Minister for School Education Inder Singh Parmar informed in a written reply to a question asked by Gwalior South Congress MLA Praveen Pathak.

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As per the minister's reply, the drop has been the result of free admission in private schools under Right to Education (RTE), decline in child population and data purification due to Samagra Samajik Suraksha Mission ID (SSMID) registration. Singh said the decline in enrollment was being addressed through child-wise tracking and the efforts are being made to ensure admission of students in the 6-14 age group.

As per the reply, 16.14 lakh children had got admission in Class 1 in 2010-11, which has now reduced to 6.96 lakh in 2020-21. Similarly, the admission in Class 2 declined to 8.05 lakh from 15.46 lakh, from 14.54 lakh to 7.85 lakh in Class 3, from 13.97 lakh to 8.62 lakh in Class 4, from 13.15 lakh to 8.31 lakh in Class 5, from 11.68 lakh to 7.81 lakh in Class 6, from 11.01 lakh to 8.35 lakh in Class 7 and from 9.35 lakh to 8.39 lakh in Class 8 during this period.

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The minister's reply pointed out that spending on mid-day meals, however, increased from Rs 91,603 lakh in 2010-11 to Rs 1,61,789 lakh in 2020-21, while the expense on free uniform distribution was Rs 32,408 lakh rpt lakh in 2020-21 and Rs 39,911 lakh rpt lakh in 2010-11. The spending on free book distribution was Rs 16,020 lakh in 2010-11, which went up to Rs 22,653 lakh in 2018-19 but reduced to Rs 15,436 lakh in 2020-21, it added.