Pandemic effect: Dip in number of schools, rise in teacher exits | Education News,The Indian Express
Schools were hit during the first wave of COVID-19 as well but the crisis exacerbated after the Delta variant, shows a comparative analysis of the latest UDISE+ report with the previous ones.
Schools were hit during the first wave of Covid-19 as well but the crisis exacerbated after the Delta variant, shows a comparative analysis of the latest UDISE+ report with the previous ones.
The drop in the number of schools, from 15.09 lakh in 2020-21 to 14.89 lakh in 2021-22, is significant given that this is the second dip in school count since UDISE counting came to be managed by the Department of School Education and Literacy in 2018-19. Among schools that shut down, the share of private schools was 24% and government schools were 48%, with government-aided schools and “others” making up the rest.
The report shows that the trend of students shifting from private to government schools also deepened during the last financial year, showing the economic cost of the pandemic marked by job losses and pay cuts. The period saw enrollment in govt schools increase by 83.35 lakh while in private schools it dipped by 68.85 lakh.
“The decline in total schools is mainly due to closure of schools under private and other management,” the ministry of education said in a statement, also identifying “grouping/clustering of schools by various states” as another factor behind the decline. The report, however, did not go into the possible factors behind the fall in the number of teachers and the worsening of other indicators such as drop-out rates.
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