According to a survey, the decline of dropout rate among school students during 2018-2020 has lessened in West Bengal. Quoting the survey, the ruling Trinamool Congress said the state has acquired the top position in terms of students dropout rate.
According to the Annual State of Education Report (ASER) 2020, the school dropout rate in the state declined from 3.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent while it went up from four per cent to 5.5 per cent at the national level, the statement said.
In terms of textbooks contribution to the students, West Bengal again holds first place in the country with 99.7 per cent coverage, as per the survey. Whereas bigger states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, the same stands at 79.6 per cent, 60.4 per cent, 95 per cent, 34.6 per cent and 80.8 per cent respectively, the statement said quoting the report.
"West Bengals initiative to continue education during the COVID-19 pandemic through digital and other electronic modes have also been acknowledged in the report," it said.
The dropout rate in some larger states like Karnataka, Telangana and Rajasthan was 11.3 per cent, 14 per cent and 14.9 per cent respectively, the statement said, quoting the survey conducted among 52,227 families of 16,974 villages in 584 districts of 26 states.
Chairman of the Syllabus Committee Aveek Majumder said such a remarkable decline in the dropout rate was possible because of continuous efforts and measures of the state to guarantee that not a single child had to abandon education due to lack of financial support, including girls.
Mr Majumder said, "We have been following a policy where every child in state-run and state-aided schools is given textbooks according to the curriculum decided by the syllabus committee. This has been going on for the past several years. The high percentage is a reflection of that policy."
Mr Majumder further added that During the school education department assured that students were given classes during the pandemic in the best possible way as the schools were shut down.
"From tutorials on TV channels to online classes, every possible alternative was adopted in the present situation. In madrasas, parents were given study materials during midday meal distribution on certain dates and the guardians returned the home tasks on designated dates later on," Mr Majumder said.
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Mr Majumder said, "we will go by the advisory of the state and decide accordingly", on being asked about resuming classes on TV channels.
The ASER report is an initiative by the Pratham Education Foundation that surveys on the performance of schools in the entire country every year.
Pratham is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the country which works towards providing quality education to underprivileged children.