Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 24: The government primary and high schools which have been witnessing a steady slump in the number of students since the last 14 years have created a record of sorts for the new academic year 2020-21. As compared to the previous year, 1.06 lac new students have got admission into the government schools. This figure is as of September 23.

Out of 1.05 crore students who were in the books of the schools last year, 85 lac have got themselves admitted again. 45 lac students have got admissions in aided and unaided private schools while 40 lac students have been admitted into government schools. Admissions will continue till the September 30 and 50,000 more students are expected to get admission.

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Sources in the department of education said that in 2006-07, 53.4 lac students had got admitted into government schools, which fell to 41.26 lac in 2019-20. Over the years, the admissions into government schools became lesser by an average of 1.5 lac per year. However, the trend has reversed this year. This is a refreshing development amid the claims that parents are dithering from sending their children to government schools, sources in the department said.

There are 48,004 government schools including primary and secondary education. In 31,03 schools, the admission of students has gone up this time. In several schools, the number of students swelled to double the current strength, while many schools have seen a 50 per cent increase. The sources said they expect to see a new record being created in the admission of students.

Primary and secondary education minister, S Suresh Kumar said that there are reasons for the increase in the admissions. Lessons through 'Chandana' channel, house to house visits by teachers to check, which reminds one of 'Gurukul' model etc have been undertaken to strengthen the government schools, he stated.

Reasons for increased admissions have been attributed also to the economic crisis arising out of corona, schools supporting the poor and middle-income families, confidence about better quality education, and a result of 'Vidyagama' scheme implementation.

Suresh Kumar said that the middle and lower-middle-income families are slowly but firmly turning towards government schools. He said that this has increased the responsibility of the education department.