Ony 12 of 100 kids in civic schools reach Std X……Shreya Bhandary
MUMBAI: The Centre may have implemented the Right to Education Act, aiming for a 100% literacy rate in the country, but the ground reality in the state is rather disheartening.
According to a survey conducted by a non-government organization, of every 100 students admitted to a municipality school, only 12 reach Std X. Clubbed with the high dropout rates, the educational course in civic schools is also highlighted with the abysmally low pass percentage.
A report released by a non-governmental organisation reveals the many hidden facts of the schools education of many children in our city. The increasing drop-out rate by the time a student gets to class X, the low passing rate in examinations are the highlight of this report.
“Every year, the BMC spends around Rs 40,000 on each student. Still, 15 of the 24 wards in the city showed an alarming rise in the number of students who have dropped out of school this year,” said Nitai Mehta, founder and trustee of Praja Foundation that conducted the survey over the past three years. “What about the development of these children?”
A panel discussion was organized on Thursday when stalwarts in the fields shared their views on the results thrown up by the study. “Almost 80-90% of the money allocated for every child in a BMC school goes into paying the salaries of all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the institute. Progress will be apparent only when the educational curriculum is turned more child-centric,” said Ramesh Panse, one of the panelists. Even others present were Amit Chandra, Samir Somaiya and B G Deshmukh who also agreed that it was the method of teaching that had to be changed before anyone can expect a paradigm shift.
“One of the major problems lies in the fact that most BMC schools are only till Std VII. Almost 1,242 such schools exist in Mumbai as compared to 42 schools which have classes till X. As a result, most of the children do not study beyond that level,” his is another reason why students drop out of schools after class VII,” said panelist Farida Lambay, founder of NGO Pratham.
The report also highlighted the poor attendance of the education committee members at the various meetings. Most of the members have not reportedly attended all the meetings and some have very bad attendance records. “One member has attended just four of the 19 meetings held last year,” added Mehta.
Praja will send a copy of the report to BMC officials and educationists. “We want to reach out to as many people as possible and ensure better education for every child in the city and state,” he said.