Centre asks States to take steps to check high secondary school dropout rates

School dropout rates at the secondary level were found to be high in a dozen States. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu

School dropout rates at the secondary level were found to be high in a dozen States, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, according to a report by a department of the Education Ministry.

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The central government has suggested that the States take special steps to reduce the dropout rate as laid out in the National Education Policy, 2020. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab were also found to have high school dropout rates.

The information on dropout rates at the secondary school level was obtained from the minutes of the meetings of the Project Approval Board (PAB), which comes under the Ministry of Education.

The meetings Samagra Shiksha programme for 2025-26 were held between April and May this year with different states.

According to officials, the government wants to achieve a 100% Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) at the school level by 2030 as targeted in the NEP, 2020 and considers dropout as a hindrance.

According to the PAB report, the dropout rate in 2023-24 at the secondary level in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Karnataka, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu remains an area of concern.

The Centre has advised these states to initiate a special enrolment drive in the form of door-to-door surveys in school catchment areas to identify out-of-school children (OoSC) and to ensure their admissions.

In Bihar, as per the report, there were "large variations" in the reporting of data, especially on OoSC on the PRABANDH portal. The state was directed to initiate a special enrolment drive with the involvement of school management committees to ensure the identification and admission of all OoSC.

The report said 57.06 per cent of school students in Delhi study in government-run schools which make up 48.99 per cent of schools in the national capital.

The PAB expressed concern at the enrolment rate in government schools and suggested that Delhi should prioritise the improvement of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) -- both measures of participation in education -- at higher secondary level in the coming years.

In West Bengal, the annual dropout rate at the secondary school level is 17.87%. The state was advised to check the data and work on factors responsible for the high dropout rate.

In Tamil Nadu, the dropout rate at the secondary level — 7.7% — needs to be addressed. The state needs to improve on its 82.9 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary level and ensure 100 per cent as aimed in NEP.

In Karnataka, the dropout rate at secondary levels — 22.1% — is higher than the national average for secondary — 4.1% — and therefore, needs to be addressed, the report said.

Published - June 18, 2025 05:07 pm IST