Shortage of toilets for females was real reason behind student dropouts: CM Adityanath

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Sunday that the state has successfully reduced the dropout rate in schools under the Basic Education Council to zero.

He attributed this achievement to the effective use of technology and identified a key reason for previous dropout rates: the lack of toilets for female students in schools.

During the inauguration of the IBM AI GovTech Innovation Centre in Lucknow, Adityanath said that this shows that "we can use technology in a better way and transform the lives of those who are at the last rung of society."

"People would say that their daughters could not go to school because the school was far away. What was the result? Schools were opened in every village. But even after schools were established in villages, no one was willing to send their children. We had to work hard and strive to change this," Adityanath said.

Explaining why dropout rates had previously risen despite the establishment of schools, Adityanath pointed out that schools were set up at the Nyaya Panchayat level, complete with buildings, faculty, furniture, and other essential facilities. However, now that schools exist in every village, many lack sufficient infrastructure, qualified teachers, proper furniture, and basic amenities.

The chief minister claimed that earlier, the mere establishment of a school was enough for authorities, often resulting in only a single room being designated as a school, and no real attention was given to the quality of education.

"But when the data was collected and analysed, it was revealed that the reason for student dropouts was the absence of separate toilets for girls. And, when Prime Minister Modi launched a campaign to address the issue, we provided separate toilets and drinking water facilities for boys and girls in every school", the chief minister said.