3 min readImphalNov 17, 2021 10:26 PM IST
First published on: Nov 17, 2021 at 10:26 PM IST
Enrolment of students in government schools has fallen in Manipur from 26.8% in 2018 to 13.4% in 2021, says 16th Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021.
This is in contrast to the all-India level data, showing a shift from private to government schools.
The all-India level data shows that for children in the age group of 6-14, enrolment in private schools has decreased from 32.5% in 2018 to 24.4% in 2021. This shift is seen in all grades and among both boys and girls. However, boys are still more likely to be enrolled in private schools than girls, it stated.
The report further stated that the decline in enrolment in government schools in Manipur has been accompanied by a sharp increase in proportion of children currently not enrolled, from 1.1% in 2018 to 15.5% in 2021.
The annual report shows a big increase in children taking tuition at an all-India level. In 2018, less than 30% of children took private tuition classes. In 2021, this proportion has jumped to almost 40%. This proportion has increased across both sexes and all grades and school types, it stated. Similarly, the proportion of children taking tuition in Manipur also witnessed an increase from 46.2% in 2018 to 49.1% in 2021.
In Manipur, there has been a huge jump in access to smartphones from 53.4% in 2018 to 92.9% in 2021. Although 24.5% of these children do not have access to smartphones for studies, the report said, adding that 94.3% of all enrolled children in Manipur have textbooks for their current grade.
The 16th ASER (Rural) 2021 was released online on Wednesday. ASER 2021 followed the same format of a phone-based survey as conducted in the previous year. The survey was reportedly conducted in September-October 2021, eighteen months after the first lockdown. The survey explores how children in the age group of 5-16 studied at home since the onset of the pandemic and the challenges that the schools and households now face as schools reopen across states.
ASER 2021 was conducted in 25 states and three Union territories. It reached a total of 76,706 households and 75,234 children in the age group of 5-16, as well as teachers or head teachers from 7,299 government schools offering primary grades.
The report said that 94.3% of all enrolled children in Manipur have textbooks for their current grade. (PTI photo) 
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