New Delhi: As many as 26 states and Union Territories (UTs) have witnessed a drop in the number of children enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-Poshan) scheme in the past seven years, according to Ministry of Education data shared in the Lok Sabha this week. Since the central government scheme provides mid-day meals in government and government-aided schools, enrolments for PM-Poshan, including those in preparatory classes or Bal Vatika, also reflect the number of children studying in these institutions.
Among the states which witnessed the maximum drop are Bihar, which saw an enrollment drop of 19,02,558 from 2016-17 to 2022-23; Madhya Pradesh, which saw a drop of 16,76,086; and Gujarat which saw a dip of 7,74,766 during the same period.
The data was shared by Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in response to a query raised by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Sunil Dattatray Tatkare in Lok Sabha Monday.
According to Monday’s data, the only states and UTs that witnessed an increase in student enrolments under the scheme in the past seven years were Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
While Uttar Pradesh witnessed a consistent increase in student enrolment, from 17,851,084 in 2016-17 to 20,281,202 in 2022-23, Kerala witnessed a fluctuating but positive growth from 27,16,532 in 2016-17 to 28,36,394 in 2022-23. Punjab witnessed a similar trend from 17,96,114 in 2016-17 to 18,17,770 in 2022-23.
Uttar Pradesh attributed its rise in numbers to three initiatives taken by the state government. A senior official in the state education department claimed that the state lagged behind in learning outcomes and was trying to correct that by ensuring that children went to school in the first place.
The official added: “The state government launched Operation Kayakalp in 2021 to build and improve infrastructure facilities such as toilets, boundary walls etc. in schools. In addition, across 1.36 lakh schools in the state, central and state initiative funds were converged and used to build facilities. The state also started the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ where schools were identified and given funds of up to Rs 8 lakh to develop academic and infrastructural facilities.”
“The state has also started the implementation of the central NIPUN Bharat scheme very early on”, he added.
A part of the National Education Policy (NEP), the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat Scheme covers learning needs of children in the 3-9 age group.
Meanwhile, officials in the states which witnessed a drop in enrollment under PM-Poshan attributed it to several factors — the pandemic, urbanisation, an increase in the number of budget private schools.
The PM-Poshan scheme covers all students, right from Bal Vatika (1-year preparatory before class I) to classes I to VIII in government and government-aided schools. It benefits about 12 crore children aged 5-11 years — 22.6 lakh children in Bal Vatika, 7.2 crore children in primary (class I-IV), and 4.6 crore children in upper primary (class V-VIII) spread over 11.20 lakh schools across India, according to government data.
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Reasons for poor show
Officials in Bihar ThePrint spoke to claimed the drop in enrollment under the midday meal scheme indicated a move from government to private schools.
“There are multiple factors contributing to this drop. However, most significant of those are the shift to private schools, absence of government schools in newly developed areas, and correction of double entry of student information,” claimed Mithilesh Mishra, the director of the mid-day meal scheme in the state.
Mishra added: “Our internal assessment of student enrolment numbers indicates that there are students whose Aadhaar cards were registered in both public and private schools or were wrongfully entered twice in the database. We are now removing all the double or incorrect entries leading to this drop. In addition to this, as towns and villages expand, private schools quickly crop up in those areas. Government schools, on the other hand, take time to be set up.”
The official further said that “As households grow prosperous, they shift their children to budget or the nearest private schools, leading to a drop in number [of children accessing the mid-day meal scheme].”
Preference for private schools was also claimed to be a reason for the drop in the number of students enrolled for PM-Poshan in Madhya Pradesh.
In a written statement to ThePrint, S. Dhanraju, the officer in-charge of the scheme in the state said the perception that private schools provide better education and decline in population growth led to the drop in enrolments.
“Over the years, there’s been a steady decline, though marginal, owing to lower population growth. The number of children seeking admission in grade 1 has seen a huge fall which impacts the overall numbers,” he claimed.
Dhanraju added: “There is a small proportion of children who prefer private schools due to the perception that they provide better quality. MP is making efforts to achieve 100 percent enrolment and retention. In the past five-six years, the dropout rate has come down significantly.”
In West Bengal, where the student enrolment dropped from 1,24,17,750 in 2016-17 to 1,10,19,610 in 2022-23, a state education department official, requesting anonymity, said, “There are two aspects that need to be factored in along with these enrolment numbers in order to get the true picture of schooling in the state. These are the coverage percentage of the PM-Poshan scheme, which is the number of children actually eating this food, and the gross enrolment numbers of the state.”
Gross Enrolment Ratio is the total enrollment in a particular level of school education, expressed as a percentage of the population of school-goers in that age group.
The official said many children shown enrolled bring their own tiffin.
He also attributed the drop in coverage percentage — the number of children enrolled and eating the meals being provided the PM-Poshan scheme — in the state to urbanisation and the perception that private schooling is better.
“Hot meals hold some sway in rural areas but not so much in urban areas. Which is why, post Covid, the state department has amped up the schooling system with initiatives and extra-curricular activities such as summer camps for children, health camps and vaccination drives to bring more children to school,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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