Relevance: GS-2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Phrases: Gross Enrollment Ratio, Right to Education Act, 2009, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, National Achievement Survey 2021, Poor Learning Outcomes, Pupil to Teacher Ratio, Vibrant School Management Committees.

Why in News?

• In Odisha, 43,489 students out of the 5.71 lakh students who had filled the form did not turn up for the High School Certificate (Class X) examination.
• Reports on the ground reveal that the pandemic-induced prolonged closure of schools, shortage of teachers, poor quality of education, lack of high schools and inadequate hostel facilities have resulted in some students taking up jobs and others opting for early marriage.

Key Highlights:

• According to the School and Mass Education Department, 1.04 lakh dropout students were brought back to school identified by the State government’s Household Survey 2021, which was conducted to study the impact of the pandemic on students aged between six and 18.
• The State government’s efforts to stem the dropout rate have not shown the desired results.
• The schools reopened after the loss of two academic sessions due to COVID-19, about 30% of students were found not attending primary, secondary and higher secondary classes in the State.
• The student absenteeism was more marked in the State’s districts such as Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, and Balangir (Bolangir).
• Study conducted by the State government in October 2021 has highlighted the following:
  • poor learning outcomes of students in rural schools;
  • students performed poorly in Mathematics and English when schools reopened after the COVID-19 interruption;

National Achievement Survey 2021:

• It shows a rural-urban divide in Odisha.
• Till Class V, the performance of rural students is on a par with their urban counterparts.
• In the higher classes, rural students start to lag behind.
• Till Class III, students from rural and urban areas score around 66% marks in English.
• In Class VIII, this figure becomes 50% for rural students and 63% for urban students.

Reasons for the Dismal Picture:

1. Shortage of Teachers:
   • According to experts, shortage of teachers in government and aided schools is a major reason behind the deteriorating quality of education in tribal-dominated districts even though the government claims to have a healthy pupil-to-teacher ratio which are in 20s from primary to secondary level.
2. Irrational Teacher Deployment Policy:
   • Deployment of teachers is largely urban-centric in the State whereby teachers are reluctant to be posted in rural schools.
   • Even if they take up such postings, they reside in urban areas and travel to rural schools. As a result, they often do not attend school.
   • Teachers in most rural schools do not come to school on time impacting ultimately the learning drive and motivation of poor children.
3. Poor Digital Penetration:
   • No access to a smartphone to attend online classes, lack of teacher counselling during pandemic are other reasons for dropouts
4. Impact of Pandemic:
   • Girls particularly belonging to SC & ST who dropped out of schools found themselves vulnerable to marriage as 122 such marriages have been reported from just three villages alone.
   • Parents received a helping hand in farming, cow herding and gardening when students were confined to their homes during the pandemic.
   • When schools reopened, some parents were reluctant to send their children back.
5. Poor Higher Education Facilities:
   • Poor accessibility and transport facilities make the secondary education a dream too far which is even more problematic for the girls being unsafe for them to walk the long way to the school through the forest area.
6. Lack of Adequate Identification Documents:
   • Lack of identity markers like caste certificates, income certificates, bank passbooks and Aadhaar cards made government support like laptops, bicycles etc inaccessible .
7. Inadequate Hostel Facilities:
   • The hostel facilities provided to ST and SC students to pursue education are “grossly inadequate”.
   • Opening of hostels indiscriminately is not going to solve the problem. It has to be rational.
   • While hostel accommodation should be for students of higher classes, the government must ensure that children from all backgrounds receive primary school education.

Initiatives by the State Government:

1. School Sanjog Programme:
   • It is an initiative to run mobile schools to bridge the learning gap among students of Classes I to V from particularly vulnerable tribal groups but not a single mobile school has visited their village.
2. 5T High School Transformation Programme:
   • A project to build smart classrooms in 4,536 government-run schools in two phases.
   • Teachers at the Government Upgraded High School say as part of the programme, ₹65 lakh was spent on beautifying the school.
   • The physical transformation of the school has not had an effect on its day-to-day functioning.
3. Child Tracking Mechanism:
   • A child tracking mechanism has been made operational to trace children dropping out of school.
4. Shortening of Summer Vacations:
   • To compensate for the learning loss, the government has decided to shorten the summer vacation and provide an additional month of teaching to students in government and aided schools.

Way Forward:

1. Formulation of Region-Specific Policies:
   • The education policy is planned by the State headquarters which is uniform. However, the problems are region-specific.
   • The government must acknowledge this and provide flexibility to District Collectors to take steps to stem the dropout rate.
2. Robust Schooling Infrastructure:
   • Since schools are located in far-off places, students from the tribal areas of the State are unable to continue their studies hence bridging infra-gaps is necessary.
3. Vibrant School Management Committees:
   • The School Management Committees (SMCs) have little interest in taking up issues concerning students.
   • It is alleged that SMC members are treated as mere signatories.
   • The accountability of teachers cannot be fixed at the school level unless the SMCs are made vibrant.
4. School-Wise Analysis of Absenteeism:
   • The District Education Officers were directed to conduct a school-wise analysis and submit a report.
   • The State government had even waived the exam fee for Class X students in view of the pandemic.
5. Fixing responsibility at all levels:
   • Government must ensure that guidelines issued to check the rising dropout rate are implemented in letter and spirit and responsibility is fixed at all levels
6. Sensitising parents:
   • The parents need to be explained the benefits of sending children to school and the steps taken by the government to provide free books, uniforms, bicycles, midday meals and scholarships to students.
7. Support of Panchayats:
   • If required, help from the school management committees, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and women self-help groups should be taken to bring students back to school.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. In a recent study conducted by the State government of Odisha has highlighted the poor learning outcomes of students in rural schools. Discuss the reasons and suggest corrective measures to improve the situation. (250 words).