Question : Socio-Economic Background of School Dropouts

(a) whether the Government has conducted any assessment with regard to school
dropouts in the country and if so, the details of such sections of the society to
which maximum school dropouts belong;
(b) whether the Government has conducted any survey for assessment of the social
and economic background of such children and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether it is a fact that despite the initiatives taken by the Government, there has
been a massive dropout of girls enrolled in primary classes and if so, the details
thereof;
(d) whether the Government has any data regarding the number of children dropping
out of schools before Class VIII including those from the Scheduled Castes/
Scheduled Tribes; and
(e) the ratio between literate and illiterate populations in the country during the last
three years, State/UT and year-wise and action taken/proposed to be taken by
the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) : A study entitled “National Sample Survey to Assess dropout rate at the elementary
level in 21 States” was commissioned by the Government of India and the results were
reported in 2013. The cohort dropout of children belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC),
Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Muslims at elementary level is given below:-
<pre>
Year Elementary Level
SC ST Muslim All Students
2008-09 21.9 24.6 17.9 19.6
2009-10 22.2 20.8 17.9 23.2
</pre>
(b) : The study has only taken in to account category of students as SC, ST and
Muslims etc. but has not specifically taken in to account social and economic background
of such children.
(c) : No Madam. As per the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE),
the annual average dropout rate of girls at primary level has reduced from 6.37% in 2009-
10 to 4.66% in 2013-14.
(d): Yes, Madam. Data on number of children, including those from SCs/STs, dropping
out of schools are annually collected under Unified District Information System for
Education (UDISE).
(e): The estimate of literate and illiterate population, States and UTs-wise, as available
from Census 2011 is at Annexure. Under the adult education scheme ‘Saakshar
Bharat’, the focus is on adult women literacy seeking to reduce the gap between male
and female literacy to not more than 10 percentage points. The mission has four broader
objectives, namely imparting functional literacy and numeracy to non-literates; acquiring
equivalency to formal educational system; imparting relevant skill development
programme; and promote a leaning society by providing opportunities for continuing
education. Under the mission, 6.51 crore learners have been enrolled in 45.53 lakh
literacy centres since inception in 2009 and up-to November, 2015. 4.46 Crore adult
learners (3.18 Crore women and 1.28 Crore men) have been certified as literate through
Bi-annual Assessment Tests held up to August, 2015.
****