CHENNAI: Though Tamil Nadu recorded a rise in the number of schools over the past five years, the state registered a dip in enrolment of students in elementary schools, statistics from the District Information System for Education show. The rate dropped by nearly 6% in the same period. However, over the past two years, government schools recorded an increase in enrolment.
In 2014-15, about 92.5lakh students were enroled in primary, public and private schools across boards when compared with 98lakh students in 2010-11. The number of schools during the same period went up from 55,175 to 57,153. Educationists, teachers and policy makers say the 6% drop is "steep and worrisome". However, a number of factors, including high school fees, lack of quality education and decreased birth rate, have contributed to the drop.
The birth rate and the population size of children in the age group of 0 to 14 years have also dropped in the last decade. For instance, there was a drop from 23.4% in 2011 to 23% in 2013. "Any change in the population figure in that age group can have an impact on the enrolment figures," said Rathna Sudarshan, a former fellow at National University of Educational Planning and Administration.
The fall was the biggest in private schools. Over the past six years, private institutions recorded an 8% drop when compared to 2.7% in government schools. Experts say people are moving away from private schools because many can't afford to pay the fee. "There was a phase where people associated private schools with system, status and high quality of education. Therefore, they were willing to pay a premium. Now, they find no value for money," said K R Malathi, an educationist.
On the other hand, enrolment in government schools come with added benefits such as free bus pass, cycles, laptops besides subsidised fees. But quality takes a hit. Tamil Nadu had introduced many schemes for students passing out of government and aided schools. However, experts like K R Nandakumar, state general secretary of Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and Higher Secondary Association said the government scheme to attract students is not sustainable.
Private school managements said with implementation of Right To Education Act 2009, they are left with no choice but to hike fees. They said the SC's ruling allowing them to fix their own fee will help them implement RTE better.
Despite financial crunches many new schools have come up because the Right To Education Act 2009 mandates schools be open within 5km, said Pooja Kulkarni, director of Sarva Shikha Abhiyan, Tamil Nadu. Also, experts say many matriculation schools have set up CBSE schools in the state.
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