Indian
Express: Ahmedabad: Thursday, 07 January 2016.
ALLEGING
DISCREPANCIES in the claims of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation School Board
that municipal schools saw nearly two per cent drop out rate in 2013-14,
city-based NGO Sushashan Samuday said the rate was as high as 50 per cent according
to information revealed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
According to
the report, the number of students who enrolled in Gujarati-medium municipal
schools in Class I was 21,690 in the year 2006-07. This number was reduced to
11,459 by the time they reached Class VIII in 2013-14, showing that 10,231
students dropped out during this phase.
Further, the
data shared by the NGO pertaining to other medium municipal schools also
reflected a drop out number of 15,172 students from academic year 2006-07 to
2013-14. The number of students enrolled in Class I were 31,843 (2006-07) that
reduced to 16,671 in 2013-14 in Class VIII.
“The data
sought under RTI Act has proved the false claims by the state government as
well as AMC school board of almost 99 per cent enrollment and two per cent drop
out rate. The truth is that there is 50 per cent drop out and a similar
enrollment rate in Ahmedabad municipal schools in both Gujarati as well as
other medium schools,” alleged Sukhdev Patel, convenor of Sushashan Samuday.
The data
finds significance ahead of the annual three-day school evaluation exercise,
Gunotsav, scheduled to kick off across the state from Thursday.
Dismissing
the allegations, the AMC school board chairman Jagdish Bhavsar said, “Students
might have gone to private schools after Class VII. Also, after the
implementation of Right to Education Act in the year 2010-11, Class VIII was
brought down from secondary to primary schools. This was also done in three
phases. This is the reason why there is such a wide gap.”
Bhavsar
further claimed that city municipal schools have witnessed a drop-out rate of
1.29 per cent though he did not revealed the enrollment rate.
Admitting
that parents preferred to send their wards to private schools in Ahmedabad, he
said, “For Class I, parents usually prefer private schools over municipal ones.
This is known to all.”
Meanwhile,
Patel said Sushashan Samuday members would meet Bhavsar along with AMC
commissioner and city mayor on January 11 to submit a support letter instead of
a memorandum. “Since officials would be busy in the Gunotsav for the next three
days, we would be extending our support to the officials to improve municipal
schools on January 11. We do not seek answers from the authorities but give
assurance to provide support in improving the quality of education,” said the
NGO convenor.
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