NEW DELHI: Mainstreaming the 46 lakh dropouts/missing children in secondary and senior secondary level is top priority of Centre in the first 100-days of the next govt as well as of the five-year agenda for school education. One of the plans is to enable students who don’t qualify for classes XI and upwards to allow them to take exams to attend the same class and let them appear as regular candidates.Centre is also planning to use the APAAR (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) identification to keep a track of those failing which many times lead to dropouts.According to education ministry sources, all options are being considered to complete the education of nearly 34 lakh students failing in class X, and 12 lakh in class XII across the country. The ministry sources said that while enrolment in elementary education is nearly 100% as per the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), “it is a challenge at the secondary and higher secondary levels. If 100 students enrol in class I, only 55% reach class XII. According to the National Education Policy 2020, the GER should be 100% at the secondary and senior secondary levels by 2030.”As per govt data, in the past four years, there has been a reduction in the dropout rate at class X by almost 8%. In 2018-19, the percentage of students dropping out in class X was 28.4%, which decreased to 20.6% in 2021-22.”Even after failing, they should have the right to education. Failed students should also be given the opportunity for regular study, which is currently limited,” said the official, adding that those students who want to complete their schooling through the open system should be given a chance. There are currently five lakh students enrolled in the National Institute of Open Schooling.Among those who fail in class X, a large number of students drop out. The education ministry has so far got 25 crore students on the APAAR IDs platform. “This ‘One Nation One Student’ ID will be linked to the Academic Bank of Credit and DigiLocker as well. Through this ID, it will now be easy to determine how many students appearing for class X exams are not progressing,” said a govt official. Along with failed students, identification of other students who left their studies for other reasons will also be possible through this exercise.The ministry is also also looking at the Andhra Pradesh govt’s decision last year to allow schools to re-admit students who failed in classes X and XII in the last two years to attend regular classes of the same course.
