Enrolment ups in private schools, dips in government schools

Enrolments in private primary schools in the state have shot up sharply over the years, even as enrolment in government schools have fall-en sharply, an analysis shows.

The state government’s figures show that from 22.28 lakh in 2010-11, the number of students enrolled in private schools surged to 32.73 lakh in 2015-16. The ratio of students enrolled in private schools went up from 27.35% to 36.01%, an increase of almost nine percent over the five-year period.

The trend is exactly the reverse in the case of government schools.

From 59.17 lakh students in 2010-11, the number of children enrolled in government schools in the state fell to 58.16 lakh in 2015-16. The ratio of students studying in government schools declined from 72.63% in 2010-11 to 63.98% in 2015-16, lower by nine per cent. Pathey, which analyses the state’s budget, said that the number of children studying in government schools fell by more than 1 lakh in absolute terms, while that in private schools went up by 10.44 lakh. “Whatever the increase has been in number of children going to schools is in private schools as the number of children enrolled in government schools has been falling,” Pathey said.

Pathey also noted that the total …read more