Reshma Ravishanker

The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher secondary schools has improved from 53.8% in 2021-21 to 57.6% in 2021-22, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2021-22.

The ministry of education on Thursday released a comprehensive report on school education in India. The report also has it that the GER has improved in 2021-22 as compared to the previous year at primary, upper primary, and higher secondary levels of school education.

GER is the total enrollment at a specific level of education, irrespective of the age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education in a given school year (the UNESCO defines).

In UDISE+ 2021-22, also carries data on indicators such as the digital library, peer learning, number of books available in school library in alignment with the NEP 2020.

The number of schools, however, came down as compared to the previous year in the country. As against 15,05,139 schools in 2021-22, there were only 14,89,115 schools in this year’s report. There was also a significant reduction in the number of government schools in the country with a reduction of 9,663 schools off the list compared to the previous year.

Among the enrollments, the enrollment of Children with Special Needs in 2021-22 was 22.67 lakh as compared to 21.91 lakh in 2020-21 showing an improvement of 3.45%.

Other significant indicators

• · More than 51 % teachers in India are female
• · The total enrolment from primary to higher secondary levels of school education was over 25.57 Crore.
• · Enrolment for boys was 13.28 Crore, girls was 12.28 Crore.
• · Total enrolment in schools (Class 1 to 12) has increased by 0.76 % as compared to 2020-21
• · The total number of teachers has declined by 1.95 %

Also read: BJP/NDA Government’s Education Report Card (2014-18)