UDISE Plus Report

• 05 Nov 2022

For Prelims: (UDISE) Plus 2021-22 report, New National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-Day Meal Scheme

For Mains: Education System in India and related issues, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

Recently, the Union Education Minister released the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus 2021-22 report on school education.

• The Ministry of Education also released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for 2020-21.

What is the UDISE Plus Report?

• It is a comprehensive study that provides information on enrollment and dropout rates of school students, number of teachers in schools, and information on other infrastructural facilities like toilets, buildings and electricity.
• It was launched in 2018-2019 to speed up data entry, reduce errors, improve data quality and ease its verification.
• It is an application to collect the school details about factors related to a school and its resources.
• It is an updated and improved version of UDISE, which was initiated in 2012-13 by the Ministry of Education.

What are the Findings of the UDISE Plus 2021-22 Report?

• Decline in Enrolments:
  • Pre-Primary Level:
    • A total of 94.95 lakh students entered pre-primary classes in 2021-2022, registering a drop of 10% as compared to the previous year when 1.06 crore children enrolled in these classes.
    • However, in 2020-2021, there was already a decline of 21% enrolment in pre-primary classes as compared to 1.35 crore the year before as the pandemic and lockdown measures resulted in school closures and classrooms moving online
  • Primary and Higher Secondary Level:
    • Enrolment in primary classes (classes 1 to 5) also saw a drop for the first time—falling from 12.20 lakh in 2020-2021 to 12.18 lakh in 2021-2022.
    • However, the total number of students from primary to higher secondary increased by 19 lakhs to 25.57 crores.
• Decline in Number of Schools:
  • Total number of schools in 2021-22 stood at 14.89 lakhs compared to 15.09 lakhs in 2020-21.
    • The decline was mainly due to closure of private and other management schools and grouping/clustering of schools by various states.
  • There were also 1.89 lakh fewer teachers as their number reduced from 96.96 lakh in 2020-2021 to 95.07 lakh in 2021-2022.
• Computer Facilities and Internet Access:
  • Computer facilities were available in 44.75% of schools, while Internet access was available only in 33.9% of schools.
  • However, their availability has improved as compared to pre-covid when only 38.5% of schools had computers and 22.3% had Internet facilities.
• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER):
  • It compares the enrolment in a specific level of education to the population of the corresponding age group.
    • Overall Improvement:
      • The GER for the primary section has improved from 101.3% in 2018-2019 to 104.8% in 2021-2022.
      • For secondary classes, it has risen to 79.6% in 2021-22, from 76.9% in 2018-19 and for higher secondary level, it has increased from 50.14% to 57.6%.
    • Category-wise Improvement:
      • Total number of Scheduled Caste enrolment increased to 4.82 Crore in 2021-22 as compared to 4.78 Crore in 2020-21.
      • Total Scheduled Tribe enrolment increased to 2.51 crore in 2021-22 from 2.49 crore in 2020-21.
      • Total other backward students also increased to 11.48 crore in 2021-22 from 11.35 crore in 2020-21.
      • Total enrollment of Children with Special Needs (CWSN) in 2021-22 stands at 22.67 lakh as compared to 21.91 lakh in 2020-21.
• Gender Parity Index (GPI):
  • In 2021-22 over 12.29 crore girls are enrolled in primary to higher secondary showing an increase of 8.19 lakh compared to the enrolment of girls in 2020-21.
    • The Gender Parity Index (GPI) of GER indicates the representation of girls in school with respect to their population in the corresponding age group.

What is the Performance Grading Index?

• About:
  • It is an evidence-based comprehensive analysis of the school education system across states and Union Territories.
  • The Index classifies States and Union Territories into 10 grades based on their score out of a total 1,000 points.
    • The highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points.
    • The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for scores below 551.
  • Their performance is assessed on a total of 70 indicators in five domains.
    • The five domains are learning outcome, access, infrastructure and facilities, equity and governance process.
  • The Index is based on data drawn from several data sources, including the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +) 2020-21, National Achievement Survey NAS 2017, and Mid Day Meal Portal.
• Objective:
  • The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policymaking and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all.
  • The PGI is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level.

What are the Findings of the PGI?

• States attained Level 2:
  • A total of 7 States and UTs, Viz., Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level II (score 901-950) in 2020-21 as compared to none in 2017-18 and 4 in 2019-20.
    • Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to the highest achieved level of any state so far.
• States attained Level 3:
  • A total of 12 States and UTs, including Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha, attained Level 3 with a score between 851-900.
• Biggest Improvement:
  • Ladakh has seen the biggest improvement by climbing up from Level 10 in 2019-2020 to Level 4 in 2020-2021.

What is the State of Education System in India?

• About:
  • According to PGI, the Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students.
  • The current state of Education faces major challenges like lack of adequate infrastructure, low government expenditure on education (less than 3.5% of the GDP).
• Related Initiatives:
  • National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
  • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
  • PRAGYATA
  • Mid Day Meal Scheme
  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
  • PM SHRI Schools

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Question

Q. The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of technical and higher education in the country? Discuss. (2015)

Q. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 remains inadequate in promoting incentive-based systems for children's education without generating awareness about the importance of schooling. Analyse. (2022)

Source: TH