<p>New Delhi: The government has hailed the fall in dropout rates among girl students in both middle and secondary schools while simultaneously posing a very important question—why are so many boys dropping out? </p><p>This worrying trend has prompted the Union Ministry of Education to task the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with finding out the reasons behind the fall. </p><p>The Year-end data by ministry shows that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in the middle school level stood at 90.3 per cent in 2024-25, but in the secondary segment, it is 68.5%—far from the NEP’s goal of 100 per cent GER in all levels. </p> .‘At 22.2%, school dropout rate in Karnataka much above nat’l avg’.<p>“The survey-led by NIOS found that the largest causative reason behind boys dropping out is financial insecurity . </p><p>"Over 72 per cent of the boys who drop out in the secondary level are in the ages of 14 and 18 years,” a senior ministry official said. </p><p>"Legally, a child above 14 can seek employment in India in non-hazardous job sectors. The primary cause of girls dropping out is household duties, the official added. </p><p>Moreover, this phenomena can be observed via a student's performance in academics. </p><p>Across all the school boards in India, over 50 lakh students have failed in class 10 and 12. This accounts for 30 per cent of all the students across all the boards in class 12 and around 27 per cent in class 10. </p> .<p>Calling it a major concern, the senior ministry official said that the NIOS has been asked to reach out to every student that has failed in these two classes. “We are also incentivising NIOS equal to the amount of monthly fee of every student that drops out to bring them back to the system,” the official added. </p> .<p>NIOS has also been encouraged to ask students to take on the open schooling method. “A child does not need to be in class to pass class 10 or 12, because these certificates are significant for them,” the official said. </p><p>The numbers also show up in the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) data which calculate a dropout from class 10 as someone who has had only 8 years of primary education. The ministry has also asked UNESCO to change the requirements.</p><p>Ministry data also showed that after Ladakh was declared the first fully literate Union Territory with 97 per cent literacy in June last year, Mizoram has been declared the first fully literate state with 98.2 per cent literacy in May this year. </p><p>Apart from that, Goa (99.7 per cent), Tripura (95.6 per cent) and Himachal Pradesh (99 per cent), too, have achieved total literacy. </p><p>The Pupil To Teacher ratio in the secondary level stood at 21 for 2024-24 in comparison to 17 for primary level. Of the 101.2 lakh teachers across the 14,70,000 schools in the country, 54.8 lakhs are women. </p>
<p>New Delhi: The government has hailed the fall in dropout rates among girl students in both middle and secondary schools while simultaneously posing a very important question—why are so many boys dropping out? </p><p>This worrying trend has prompted the Union Ministry of Education to task the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with finding out the reasons behind the fall. </p><p>The Year-end data by ministry shows that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in the middle school level stood at 90.3 per cent in 2024-25, but in the secondary segment, it is 68.5%—far from the NEP’s goal of 100 per cent GER in all levels. </p> .‘At 22.2%, school dropout rate in Karnataka much above nat’l avg’.<p>“The survey-led by NIOS found that the largest causative reason behind boys dropping out is financial insecurity . </p><p>"Over 72 per cent of the boys who drop out in the secondary level are in the ages of 14 and 18 years,” a senior ministry official said. </p><p>"Legally, a child above 14 can seek employment in India in non-hazardous job sectors. The primary cause of girls dropping out is household duties, the official added. </p><p>Moreover, this phenomena can be observed via a student's performance in academics. </p><p>Across all the school boards in India, over 50 lakh students have failed in class 10 and 12. This accounts for 30 per cent of all the students across all the boards in class 12 and around 27 per cent in class 10. </p> .<p>Calling it a major concern, the senior ministry official said that the NIOS has been asked to reach out to every student that has failed in these two classes. “We are also incentivising NIOS equal to the amount of monthly fee of every student that drops out to bring them back to the system,” the official added. </p> .<p>NIOS has also been encouraged to ask students to take on the open schooling method. “A child does not need to be in class to pass class 10 or 12, because these certificates are significant for them,” the official said. </p><p>The numbers also show up in the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) data which calculate a dropout from class 10 as someone who has had only 8 years of primary education. The ministry has also asked UNESCO to change the requirements.</p><p>Ministry data also showed that after Ladakh was declared the first fully literate Union Territory with 97 per cent literacy in June last year, Mizoram has been declared the first fully literate state with 98.2 per cent literacy in May this year. </p><p>Apart from that, Goa (99.7 per cent), Tripura (95.6 per cent) and Himachal Pradesh (99 per cent), too, have achieved total literacy. </p><p>The Pupil To Teacher ratio in the secondary level stood at 21 for 2024-24 in comparison to 17 for primary level. Of the 101.2 lakh teachers across the 14,70,000 schools in the country, 54.8 lakhs are women. </p>