Muddle in the middle – II

Posted by Ninad on October 16, 2009 under All Posts | Be the First to Comment

Gross Enrollment ratio (GER) at the secondary level in India is 52%, which is far inferior to the GERs in countries like Vietnam (72%), Sri Lanka (83%) and China (91%).

It also varies significantly from State to State – 22% in Bihar and 92% in Kerala.

The drop-out ratio at the secondary level is significantly higher, due to challenges of access and quality. There are also huge disparities of genders, social groups and urban and rural areas. Private schools account for more than 60% of all secondary enrollment and most if the secondary school boys are from more affluent families.

I read an interesting article in the 10th October issue of Hindustan Times, titled “School’s out”.

The author had written about the state of secondary school education in a remote Ghoda village in Parbhani, about 650 kms east of Mumbai.

It gave details of how children were forced to drop out of school in the village as the there was no secondary school in the village. The nearest secondary school was 7 kms away.

There is no transport available from the village to the school and children have to walk to school. Girls have an added fear of security in this long trudge and to add to their woes, there is lack of toilets in the schools.

Result? Girls and boys cannot pursue their secondary education and have to live a life of being a farm help.

The Government has launched a scheme called Rashtriya Shiksha Abhiyan in 2008-09, with the objective to universalize access and improve quality of secondary education.

Clearly, much more needs to be done…

Public-private partnerships for secondary and higher secondary schools need to be encouraged, more teachers need to be hired, double-shifting of schools should be started, financial aid to disadvantaged students need to be offered…. The list can go on and on.

Secondary education plays an important role in a child’s development. Any amount of investment in primary and higher education will not yield the desired results, if secondary education is ignored.

Hopefully, this sector will also get equal attention with the ongoing process of reforms.