The Union Education Minister recently published the United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 report. It highlights the status of school education in India, covering numerous facets such as enrolment ratios, student demographics, teacher statistics, facilities available in schools, and more.
What is UDISE+?
Launched in the academic year 2018-19, the United Information System for Education Plus is an updated and improved version of its predecessor, UDISE, initiated in 2012-13 by the Ministry of Education. This mammoth Management Information System is designed to expedite data entry, reduce errors, enhance data quality, and simplify verification.
The innovative application collects elaborate details about individual schools and resources associated with them. Covering over 1.5 million schools, it incorporates data pertaining to 8.5 million teachers and 250 million children from classes 1 to 12 across government and private schools throughout India.
Student Enrolment Figures
According to the report, during 2019-20, student enrolment at the school level, ranging from pre-primary to higher secondary, surpassed 26.45 crore. This statistic marks an increase of 42.3 lakh compared to the previous academic year, 2018-19.
Gross Enrolment Ratio Trends
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the percentage of students enrolled in a specific level of education irrespective of their age, showed significant improvement at all levels of school education in the 2019-20 academic year. Upper Primary Level climbed to 89.7% from 87.7%, Elementary Level rose to 97.8% from 96.1%, Secondary Level advanced to 77.9% from 76.9%, and Higher Secondary Level increased to 51.4% from 50.1%.
Teacher and Pupil Ratio
During the same time, almost 96.87 lakh teachers were employed in school education, marking an increase of approximately 2.57 lakh from 2018-19. The Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) also showed a notable improvement across all levels of school education.
Enrolment of Differently-abled Students and Girls
In the academic year 2019-20, enrolment of differently-abled students witnessed a significant uptick by 6.52% over that of 2018-19. Additionally, girl student enrollment from primary to higher secondary level exceeded 12.08 crore, marking an increase of 14.08 lakh compared to the previous academic year.
Gender Parity Index
The period from 2012-13 to 2019-20 saw an improved Gender Parity Index (GPI), particularly at Secondary and Higher Secondary levels. GPI indicates the ratio of female students enrolled in primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education to male students at similar levels. This improvement was most marked at the higher secondary level, going up to 1.04 in 2019-20 from 0.97 in 2012-13.
Improvements in School Facilities
The report highlights the enhancement of facilities in schools during 2019-20. More than 80% of the schools had functional electricity, presenting a betterment of over 6% from the previous year. Similarly, the number of schools with functional computers increased to 5.2 lakh from 4.7 lakh. Furthermore, internet facilities in schools expanded to encompass 3.36 lakh schools from 2.9 lakh in 2018-19.
One of the most notable improvements came in the provision of hand wash facilities. Over 90% of schools were equipped with these facilities, marking a significant jump from only 36.3% in 2012-13. Moreover, more than 82% of schools conducted medical check-ups for students – a 4% increase from the previous year.
Influence of Government Initiatives
The aforementioned advancements can be attributed to various government initiatives like the New National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.