There has been a steady decline in the dropout rate and an increase in enrollment in both school and higher education, the Economic Survey 2022-23 showed. The survey, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said that gender equality has also improved in this financial year.
“The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in primary-enrollment in classes 1 to 5 as a percentage of the population in the age group of six to 10 years for girls as well as boys has improved during the financial year (FY)”. This reform has “reversed the declining trend between FY-17 and FY-19”, it said, adding that “GER (as a percentage of the population aged 11-13 years) in the upper-primary class 6 to 8) ), which was stable between FY-17 and FY-19, improved in FY-22”.
The Economic Survey 2022-23 states that the GER of girls in the respective age groups at the primary and upper-primary levels is better than that of boys. “In FY-22, school enrollment stood at 26.5 crore children, with an additional 19.4 lakh children enrolled from primary to higher-secondary levels,” it said.
The survey states that the total enrollment of children with special needs (CWSN) in FY-22 is 22.7 lakh as compared to 21.9 lakh in FY-21, which is an increase of 3.3%.
“Except for the pre-primary level, there has been an increase in enrollment at all levels – primary, upper-primary, secondary and higher-secondary. At the pre-primary level, enrollment declined from 1.1 crore in FY-21 to one crore in FY-22,” it said. , PTI