Q: What is the percentage of children who currently do not complete school education in India?

A: We may look at the recent data available from government sources. There are other surveys, like the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) but the government may not agree with data collected by non-governmental organisations. Is the data collected and published by the government reliable? Yes, there could be some issues of reliability but government employees, including schoolteachers, may not have an incentive to exaggerate the data on dropouts although they may underrate the number of dropouts. 

Let us look at the latest data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE). We may have to combine different numbers to get the total percentage of dropouts. Table 1 gives the data on non-enrolment in upper primary and secondary grades. Around 5 percent of children do not enrol in upper primary grades and 20 percent do not enrol in secondary grades.

Table 1: Non-enrolment in schools

Source: UDISE 2021 – 22

Then there are those who drop out from secondary grades. This data is given in Table 2. Around 12.5 percent of children drop out while studying in secondary schools. Hence, around 32.5 percent of boys and girls do not complete secondary education. (This includes those who do not enrol and those who drop out.) The same data set shows that the non-enrolment in higher secondary education is 43 percent. By considering the failure in higher secondary grades, it is easy to note that more than 50 percent of children in India do not complete 12 years of schooling successfully. 

Table 2: Dropouts from secondary school

Source: UDISE 2021 – 22

Q: Is this non-completion of school education different for different social groups? Is there a notable difference in this regard for Scheduled Castes and Tribes?

A: There is a certain catching up in the completion of school education by those who have traditionally been lagging in this regard. Hence, one may not see a great difference between upper/​middle castes and Scheduled Castes in this context, or between religious majority and minorities. However, there is a significant difference in the case of the tribal population. The non-completion of secondary education is about 5 percentage points higher for children from Scheduled Tribes.

Q: The situation in different states of India must be different. There are states like Kerala that may be doing better in terms of completion of schooling. Is this problem of non-completion predominant only in certain states? 

A: Yes. There are notable regional differences. While more than 95 percent of children of relevant age group enrol in secondary schools in Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the numbers are significantly lesser in Bihar (only 65 percent), Jharkhand (68 percent), Madhya Pradesh (70 percent) Uttar Pradesh P (70 percent) Rajasthan (75 percent) and Gujarat (75 percent). The problem is more prevalent in the Central part of India from Rajasthan and Gujarat in the west to Bihar and Jharkhand in the east. 

Q: The aggregate data (shown in Table 1 and Table 2) shows that the past differences in enrolment in schools between boys and girls have disappeared. Isn’t that something to be celebrated?

A: Yes, it is. Girls’ enrolment in secondary grades has drastically improved and has become slightly higher than that of boys in some states. However, there is a surprising regional pattern, with respect to the share of boys and girls who are not in school. If we draw a line connecting Varanasi and Hyderabad on the map of India, the share of girls who are not in school in the region west of this line is notably higher than that of boys (Table 3 which is based on ASER data). On the other hand, this percentage for girls is either lesser than or close to that of boys in states located on the east of this line. This difference can be seen even in states that have a similar share of all children who are not in school. For example, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have about 20 percent of all children who are not in school in grades 9 and 10 but the gender composition of these out-of-school children is characteristically different between Chhattisgarh (on the east of the line) and Gujarat (on the west of this line).

If there were no strong social norms or practices against the schooling of girls, we would see more girls in schools – this is the trend all over the world. Poverty, underdevelopment, or family situation may lead to the dropping out of a higher percentage of boys. It seems like the states on the east of the line have general problems of poverty, underdevelopment, and unfavourable family conditions, whereas those on the west of the line, have an additional factor – severe gender discrimination which works against the schooling of girls. The improvement in the overall income or economic status by itself may not change this situation adequately, as evident in the case of Gujarat. 

Among poorer sections, there is a reason for the reluctance to educate girls. Those who complete 10^th grade successfully may prefer to marry educated boys. This may increase the dowry and possibly delay the marriage. Many poorer parents cannot afford these. Also, when these parents take up work (say through the Employment Guarantee Scheme), there is a need to take care of younger children. This burden falls on teenage girls in poor families. There is a need to address these gender norms along with poverty and underdevelopment to see that all girls can complete school education successfully.

Q: Isn’t poverty the main reason for children dropping out of school?

A: Poverty is an important reason. If parents are poor, they need their children to work and earn money, help in agriculture or take care of younger siblings at home. Though child labour in India is declining, it exists; and poverty and vulnerability could be the main factors that force children to work. 

However, poverty is not the only reason. We have seen the role of gender norms working against the schooling of girls. In one of our field trips, we saw a set of farmers in Southern Rajasthan whose economic conditions have improved through the commercial cultivation of ieera and other such crops. However, some of them are still reluctant to send their girls to secondary schools citing the lack of enough female teachers in schools.

We may note that poverty has come down notably in India (though it is still not at a desirable level). However, such a reduction in poverty has not reduced the problem of dropouts drastically. In fact, there can be an increase in dropouts among certain sections of society as part of an overall improvement in the economic situation. Economic growth has increased wage rates in different parts of the country. Even an unskilled teenage worker can earn INR 200 per day. We have seen such cases in different parts of the country. In the Barmer district of Rajasthan, there is an increase in economic activities partly due to petroleum extraction and that has increased wage rates of even unskilled workers. Even teenage boys can get work with a wage rate of INR 200 per day. This encourages a section of boys, mostly from underprivileged groups, to take up work rather than continue secondary education. Some of them may find taking up work for this wage more attractive than being in school. Or they may join adults and migrate to cities (as we have noted, this is the case in parts of rural Bihar). 

These youngsters face a choice: Whether to be in school or take up work. They may find the option of work more attractive when the wage rate goes up, especially when they do not see the completion of school education bringing in notably higher benefits. In the case of the Nagri block of Chhattisgarh, we could see parents unsure of the benefits of the completion of education by their children. According to them, the only work available to those who complete 10 years of school education in the locality is that of a temporary schoolteacher or a police constable, both of which are very difficult jobs to get. One can say that their ​‘expected benefits’ of completing school education are less, and when that is the case, the income that is currently available by taking up unskilled work may look a lot more attractive to these parents and their children. 

Not taking up work and continuing in school requires a sacrifice of the current income of children. All parents or their children may not be in a condition to sacrifice their current income and their temptation to take up work may go up as part of an increase in the wage rate. This is noted in developed countries too. One such case is noted among the American Indians (or indigenous people) of the USA. They lived in their own territories and most of them faced poverty. The government allowed them to start casinos in their territories (for other people to go and indulge in gambling). This increased the employment opportunities in these areas. Such an increase in employment encouraged youngsters from these groups to take up work rather than using scholarships and other support schemes to pursue higher education. 

We should not presume that children attending school by sacrificing the income that they can earn by working is a common feature in all households. This depends on a variety of family characteristics. Parents’ literacy plays an important role. Parents need to be aware of the importance of schooling. The community may have to witness some success stories – if a few boys and girls from their own community do well with higher levels of education, it may motivate the entire community. This is part of a social change. Such a social change is needed to ensure that all children get the benefit of school education. All social groups in India have not undergone such social change. 

Economic growth or industrial development per se is not adequate to ensure that all children complete school education. This is evident from the situation in the state of Gujarat. It is probably at the top among Indian states in terms of industrial investments. However, nearly 20 percent of children (and the majority of them girls) drop out in secondary grades there. Hence, education or broadly, human development (and not only industrial or economic growth) has to be a priority of governments to see that all children complete school education. 

Q: How does parents’ work affect the education of their children?

A: We have seen that the lack of employment or poverty may encourage parents to use children’s labour. Mothers’ employment (say, in an employment guarantee scheme or as a small vendor) may work against their daughters’ education since daughters are required to care for younger siblings. In one study, we have noted that certain stability in terms of work or location of stay of parents enables the education of their children. For example, farmers may be able to send their children to schools and ensure regular attendance. 

However, one category of parents, namely, migrants, face severe challenges in educating their children. These migrants from rural areas move to cities to take up less-skilled work, say, in construction. Given that there are not enough job opportunities in factories, this is one type of work that is available to poorer Indians in cities and towns. Hence, there has been a surge of such migration during the last couple of decades. Children of these parents face challenges that prevent them from attending schools regularly – the language of the state where they work may be different from their home language, there could be difficulties in adjusting to the school environment in new locations, and there may be frequent movements from one location and school, and so on. Though there are efforts to address these problems by both the government and non-government organisations, these are not enough. Children whose parents migrate may face challenges in school education even if the former continue to study in their own villages (due to lack of adequate parental supervision). 

There may be other occupations which may work against the completion of school education. It is noted that teenage boys from marine fishing families may enter the family occupation and this works against the continuation of school education.¹ 

Q: Data shows that there is 1 – 2 percent of children are not getting enrolled even in primary schools. Do we know who exactly these children are?  

A: We don’t have much information about them. However, there is a possibility that a significant section of children may not be enrolled even in primary school if they have one or more disabilities. According to official statistics, People with Disabilities (PWDs) constitute 2.21 percent of the Indian population. This could be an underestimate since many parents may not identify or report the disability of their children. This includes around two million children in the age group of 0 – 6 years with one or more disability. ​‘The majority of PWDs live in rural areas and the percentage is slightly higher among the Scheduled Castes. The major disabilities are related to speech and hearing (26%); locomotor (20%); and visual, including blindness and low vision (19%). About 9 percent of PWDs² have intellectual disabilities and illnesses. Many rural schools may not have provisions that these children may need. Sections of parents may not be aware that a child with a disability can go to school and benefit from education. This may prevent them from using schooling for these children.

Q: How does an understanding of the EDIL perspective help in the design of policies and programmes which are aimed at enhancing access to school education? 

A: The EDIL perspective should highlight the importance of poverty eradication and employment generation even if the purpose is to see that all children get the benefit of school education. Effective functioning of the Public Distribution System and Employment Guarantee Schemes is important even for enhancing access to school education. Though these are important, poverty eradication and employment are not adequate. Even when people get out of poverty, they may not necessarily encourage their children to complete school education. Creating confidence among underprivileged groups that they too can benefit from school and higher education is important. Role models, especially from these communities can help. Special attention needs to be given to addressing gender norms. Though there are schemes for this purpose, much more needs to be attempted, especially in regions and among social groups where highly discriminatory gender norms prevail. 

Two areas where schools or the education system has to respond to address the problem of access are with regard to the integration of children with disabilities and those from migrant families. The readiness of schools to accommodate children with disabilities needs to go up, and there have to be enrolment drives which are aimed at these children. Teachers (especially those in government schools in urban areas) have to be a lot more sensitive to the needs and challenges of children from migrant families. Public services, in general, have to be a lot more responsive to the needs of poorer migrant workers in India (this was evident during the COVID-19 crisis), and education is part of this.

One social group that performs badly in terms of accessing school education in India is the tribal population. Their needs and challenges require special consideration, and it will be discussed in another Q&A. Though what we have described here is important for policymakers and social activists, schoolteachers can also take several actions to enhance access to education by children belonging to all sections. Some of these steps will be discussed in another Q&A. 

Table 3: State-wise percentage of children not in school

Source: ASER survey in rural areas (2018)

Santhakumar V is former professor, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. 

References

Santhakumar, V., Gupta, N., & Sripada, R. 2016. Who are out of schools? Schooling for All in India: Can We Neglect the Demand? Oxford University Press.