School admissions at entry level drop by 1 lakh in Karnataka

Enrolment at the entry level in Karnataka's state board schools has fallen sharply this academic year.

The final admission data available with the department of public instruction shows that the number of enrolments at state board schools for Class 1 this academic year has dropped by 1,11,852 over the 2020-21 academic year.

During the 2020-21 academic year, the number of students admitted to Class 1 was 10,21,105, while this year, it has dropped to 9,09,253. The biggest drop in admissions has been in private unaided schools, while enrolment at government-run schools has gone up. However, there has been no change in numbers in aided institutions.

According to private school managements, the drop in admissions was mainly because of the department’s compulsory pass policy. D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka said, “The figures furnished by the department are not true. According to us, entry level admissions were barely 10% of the normal intake.”

“With the department deciding to promote students to the next level without any evaluation, parents saw no point in admitting their children to schools since they would be promoted anyway,” said Shashi Kumar.

A representative of a private school management said, “Though there are no admissions for Class 1, there will be a demand for Class 2 next year. This is reality and children’s learning curve will be affected because of this.”

The private schools’ management association has requested the department to direct parents to compulsorily enrol children and promote only those children who are enrolled.

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Meanwhile, child rights activists say this is a violation of children’s rights. Nagasimha G Rao, director Child Rights Trust said, “The government should take an initiative to attract children to schools by giving wide publicity at the local level and educate parents about the need to enrol children to schools. The government should make decisions in the best interest of children.”

According to teachers, the uncertainty over reopening schools for primary levels due to Covid-19 and fear among parents is affecting enrolment.

Though government-run schools are showing an increase in admissions this year, there is a dip in overall admissions by three lakh for Classes 1 to 10. The data shows that the total admissions (all managements) during 2020-21 was 1,04,56,650 and this year it is 1,01,06,883.

According to the circular issued by the department, the last date for admission ended on August 31 and the department has again extended the date by two more months considering the demand from private unaided schools.