India is facing high school dropout rate, and the reason isn't distance, lack of infrastructure or high cost

By: Anshul Vipat

Over 35 percent of boys and 21 percent of girls between ages six and 17 years dropped out of the schools citing “not interested in studies”

According to the report, between April 1 and October 20, 3.48 lakh children — or 18 percent of all children enrolled in Delhi government schools — have been absent for seven consecutive days or 20 out of 30 working days. The biggest chunk is between the ages of 11 and 16, together making up 71.6 percent of these absentees. In the 11-13 age category, 1,35,558 children, or 19 percent of the students of this age, had this attendance track record and in the 14-16 age category, it was 1,13,876 children or 16 percent of the students of this age. Boys make up 55 percent of such “chronic absentees” while girls make up 45 percent.

Until September 30, as many as 7516 of the children enrolled in these schools did not attend school for a single day and attempts to contact their families were unsuccessful. Majority of those who were contacted, 41 percent were reported by parents as being because of sickness. With the migrant character of the families of a large number of students, in 25 percent cases, parents said they had taken the child back for a visit to their village. In 11 percent cases, the parent said they were not aware that their child had been absent from school. While child labour, child marriage and bullying accounted for four, two and one percent respectively.

Not just Delhi, this is an all-India problem

According to NFHS-5 survey, 40 percent of boys and girls between the age of 2 and 4 years attend preschool. However, the net attendance ratio has fallen from 83 percent in primary school to 66 percent at the secondary school level. The dropout rate is more than 25 percent in Tripura, Sikkim, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, four states have registered a dropout rate of more than 30 percent.

The reason behind dropping out isn't high education cost or access to schools or sanitation. According to the survey, the most common reason reported for children dropping out of school was "lack of interest in studies". Over 35 percent of boys and 21 percent of girls between ages six and 17 years dropped out of the schools citing “not interested in studies”. The survey interviewed over 20,084 boys and 21,851 girls on their reasons for dropping out.

Another factor behind students dropping out of school was rising cost. About 20 percent of girls and 16 percent of boys who were surveyed attributed dropping out to increased cost of education. Almost 13 percent girls, as opposed to around 10 percent boys, cited "required for household work" as reason for dropping out. Almost 7 percent of the girls dropped out because Then, child marriage put a stop to girls’ education with 7 percent dropping out due to it as compared to only 0.3 percent boys. Other reasons cited by the girls included lack of proper facilities (1.7 percent), no female teacher (0.2 percent), and safety concerns (2 percent).

According to experts, one of the reasons of such a state can be attributed on academic learning, than on fundamental values, or physical and mental wellbeing of the students. If we look at evolution of the school system around the world they have being focusing on enhancing the learning ability of the students and making them smarter, more competitive and cognizant citizens. While the New Education Policy aims at building an education system that promotes market-relevant skills among the youth, we must also focus on fostering an enabling environment for students

The data calls for urgent need to revamp the school system and align it with values that help one build resilience and focus.  The Indian education system has been fraught with certain hard-hitting realities which are hard to ignore.