Two reasons why Odisha has contested Centre’s school drop-out data for the state

How did Odisha react?

Odisha’s school and mass education minister Sudam Marndi wrote to the Union education minister, saying determining the drop-out rate on the basis of Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data is not correct. UDISE is a database on schools maintained by the Centre.

Marndi said despite several requests, the UDISE data for Odisha did not include the information of around 1.4 lakh students who took admissions in various technical and vocational educational institutions, open schools, and distance courses.

How is the drop-out data calculated?

According to officials in Odisha’s school and mass education department, the drop-out rate is calculated by comparing the number of students in Class 11 in one year with those in Class 10 in the previous year, which was “not correct”.

What are the two reasons Odisha cited?

First, officials said, students not taking admission in Class 11 does not necessarily mean they have “dropped out”. Many, after Class 10, take admissions in technical and vocational courses, open schools, or correspondence courses, and the current method does not account for them.

Second, officials said, the drop-out data mentioned by the Union education minister was not the most recent one. They said UDISE data of Odisha for the 2022-23 academic year had been submitted to the education ministry months ago, but is yet to be published by the Centre.

What is the drop-out rate according to Odisha?

The Odisha government said going by the updated UDISE data, the drop-out rate in the state would be 20 per cent. If the 1.4 lakh students pursuing various other courses are included, the drop-out rate would further fall to 15 per cent.