 ENROLMENT

Since Independence, there has been a substantial increase in enrolment at all levels of educa- tion. A total of 726,462 schools together with 240,000 non-formal education centres enrol 136 mil- lion children as compared to 23.4 million in 1951.

Size and Efficiency:

The number of children enrolled in grades I-V has increased from 19.15 mil- lion in 1950-51 to 105.37 million in 1992-93. The corresponding increase for the upper primary classes is from 3.12 million in 1950-51 to 38.71 million in 1992-93. The year-wise distribution of boys and girls enrolment at school level is presented in table 39. In view of the high drop-out and repetition the structure of the education pyramid is very skewed. The retention rate for class V and class VII are presented in table 42. There has been a progressive improvement in the reten- tion, both at primary and upper primary stage but the overall position is less than satisfactory. Nearly 44 per cent of the children drop-out before they reach class V and 64 per cent drop-out before reaching grade VIII. The low efficiency of the school system has eroded major gains of im- proved access.

Gross-Enrolment Ratios (GER):

The Indian education system is characterised by massive coverage at class one. A number of overage and underage children also got enrolled in primary schools with the result that gross enrolment ratios often exceeded 1 00 per cent. The 1992-93 en- rolment data shows a GER of 118.1 per cent for boys and 92.7 per cent for girls. The phenomenon is more marked in deprived groups of population. For example, the state of Maharashtra has shown a GER of 304.4 per cent for SC boys and 263.3 per cent for SC girls. There are significant inter-state variations in GER. It is observed that the highest GER at primary level is in case of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (146.2 per cent) and the lowest in case of Chandigarh. This, however, should be seen in the context of age cohort of children studying in classes I-V.

The GER for class VI to VIII are 80.5 per cent for boys and 53.8 per cent for girls. The GER for SCs and STs are presented in tables 45-48. The GER is significantly lower for girls as compared to boys, particularly in educationally backward states. The significant difference between GER at primary level and Upper Primary level also indicates that a large number of children drop out at primary level.

Quality of Education:

Data on indicators related to the quality of education are not easily avail- able. As a proxy of the quality, the results of National Talent Search Scholarships have been presented in table 49. The educationally developed areas have relatively greater share in the na- tional talent search scholarships. The analysis of other indicators like PTR is presented in the pre- vious section.

        
                                                                                                                                             EDUCATION FOR ALL
        
                                                                               Table 38
                                                                Age-specific Population and Enrolment
                                                                            (in thousands)
        
                                                                                  
                            Year            Age-Specific Population (6-11 years)                Enrolment (Class I-V)                Enrolment (Class VI- VIII)
                                                Boys          Girls        Total            Boys        Girls       Total            Boys       Girls      Total
                                                                                  
        
                          1950-51               22727         21747        44474            13770        5385       19154            2586       534       3120
        
                          1955-56                N.A.          N.A.          N.A.           17528        7639       25167            3426       867       4293
        
                          1960-61               28641         27598        56239            23594       11401       34994            5074       1630      6704
        
                          1965-66               33422         32367        65789            32178       18293       50471            7686       2846    10532
        
                          1970-71               38611         36080        74691            35729       21306       57035            9426       3889    13315
        
                          1975-76               42471         40316        82787            40649       25011       65660          10990        5034    16024
        
                          1980-81               45030         42477        87507            45286       28488       73774          13934        6790    20724
        
                          1985-86               46922         44482        91404            51732       34733       86465          18132        9993    28125
        
                          1990-91               49998         47315        97333            58095       41023       99118          20844       12439    33283
        
                          1991-92*              50784         48086        98870            59218       42359      101577          21449       12997    34446
        
                          1992-93*              51177         48450        99628            60454       44916      105370          23693       15015    38708
        
                          1995-96*              51964         49182       101146
        
                          2000-01*              52518         49792       102310
                                                                                  
        
                        N.A. Data Not Available
                        * Projected population
                        Source     1. A Handbook of Educational and Allied Statistics, MHRD, Department of Education, Government of India, 1987.
                                   2. Selected Educational Statistics, Various Volumes, MHRD, Department of Education, Government of India.

        
                                                                                                                                             EDUCATION FOR ALL
        
                                                                               Table 39
        
                                                              School Enrolment: Stage-wise and Sex-wise
        
                                                                       1950-51      to 1992-93
        
                                                                                                                                             (in thousands)
                                                                                  
                         Year                         Primary                              Upper Primary                           High/Higher Secondary
                                          Boys           Girls        Total          Boys        Girls       Total           Boys         Girls       Total
                                                                                  
        
                       1950-51            13770        5385           19155        2586         534          3120           1058         162         1220
                       1951-52            14182        5628           19810        2799         589          3388           1212         193         1405
                       1952-53            14497        5851           20348        2929         639          3567           1291         226         1517
                       1953-54            15356        6316           21672        3103         726          3829           1357         238         1595
                       1954-55            16349        6875           23224        3261         787          4048           1426         273         1699
                       1955-56            17528        7639           25167        3426         867          4293           1539         318         1857
                       1956-57            18451        8262           26713        3644         992          4636           1663         344         2007
                       1957-58            19404        8766           28170        3835        1093          4928           1793         390         2183
                       1958-59            21014        9742           30757        4200        1241          5441           1936         423         2359
                       1959-60            22296       10524           32819        4621        1431          6052           2070         452         2522
                       1960-61            23593       11401           34994        5074        1630          6704           2340         547         2887
                       1961-62            25984       13119           39103        5616        1866          7482           2602         631         3233
                       1962-63            27637       14234           41871        6109        2112          8221           2894         746         3640
                       1963-64            29121       15429           44550        6685        2357          9042           3136         865         4001
                       1964-65            31052       17166           48218        7179        2615          9794           3531        1033         4564
                       1965-66            32178       18293           50471        7686        2846         10532           3870        1172         5042
                       1966-67            33160       19104           52264        8097        3099         11196           4182        1293         5475
                       1967-68            33827       19753           53580        8633        3351         11984           4385        1403         5788
                       1968-69            34157       20212           54369        8989        3548         12537           4619        1532         6151
                       1969-70            34769       20716           55485        9175        3704         12979           4724        1606         6330
                       1970-71            35729       21306           57035        9426        3889         13315           4872        1708         6580
                       1971-72            36785       22034           58819        9641        4043         13684           5007        1815         6822
                       1972-73            38822       23579           62401        9954        4303         14257           5140        1880         7020
                       1973-74            39275       24173           63448       10157        4564         14721           5707        2108         7815
                       1974-75            40267       24589           64856       10582        4784         15366           5337        2092         7429
                       1975-76            40649       25011           65660       10990        5034         16024           5341        2083         7424
                       1976-77            42690       26371           69061       11371        5316         16687           5475        2164         7639
                       1977-78            41899       25462           67361       11749        5555         17304           5060        2314         7974
                       1978-79            42573       26388           68961       12247        5931         18178           5908        2499         8407
                       1979-80            44219       27339           71558       13032        6247         19279           6947        2827         9874
                       1980-81            45286       28488           73774       13934        6790         20724           7593        3201        10794
                       1981-82            46711       29395           76106       14695        7250         219A5           7981        3206        11187
                       1982-83            48571       30935           79507       15663        7968         23631           8128        3460        11588
                       1983-84            50359       32231           82590       16643        8552         25195           8442        3724        12166
                       1984-85            51922       33734           85656       17216        8999         26215          10807        4670        15477
                       1985-86            52247       35194           87441       17736        9574         27310          11457        5041        16498
                       1986-87            51728       35491           87219       17884        9632         27516          11446        5230        16676
                       1987-88            53508       36952           90460       18878       10409         29287          13334        6132        19466
                       1988-89            53836       37435           91271       19268       10682         29950          13732        6781        20513
                       19891-90           54272       38079           92351       19823       11066         30889          11687        6042        17729
                       1990-91(P)         58095       41023           99118       20844       12439         33283          14003        6894        20897
                       1991-92(P)         59218       42359          101577       21449       12997         34446          14184        7044        21228
                       1992-93(P)         60454       44916          105370       23693       15015         38708          14722        7499        22221
        
                                                                                  
                    (P) Provisional
                    Source :    1. A Handbook of Educational & Allied Statistics (MHRD) Deptt. of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 1987
                                2. Selected Educational Statistics, Various Volumes (MHRD) Deptt. of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi
                                3. Education in India (Vol. I), Various Years, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi

        
                                                                                                                                             EDUCATION FOR ALL
        
                                                                               Table 40
                                                                         Classwise Enrolment
                                                                      Increase in 1986 Over 1978
        
                                                                                                                                         (in thousands)
                                                                                  
                      Classes                                  Enrolment (1986)                                        Increase in 1986 over 1978
                                                     Boys             Girls             Total                        Boys            Girls             Total
                                                                                  
        
                     Primary
                           I                       14444             10446              24890                        1577             1760             3337
                           II                      10635              7620              18255                         877             1663             2540
                           III                      9691              6695              16386                        1768             1890             3658
                           IV                       8493              5592              14085                        2063             1822             3885
                           V                        7590              4707              12297                        2176             1715             3891
        
                     Upper Primary
                           VI                       6700              3801              10501                        2136             1508             3644
                           VII                      5736              3182               8918                        1908             1285             3193
                           VIII                     5204              2648               7852                        1852             1106             2958
        
                     High/Hr.  Sec.
                           IX                       4348              2061               6409                        1690              905             2595
                            X                       3518              1593               5111                        1390              708             2098
                           XI                       1470               636               2106                         694              360             1054
                          XII                        959               444               1403                         503              294              797
                                                                                  
        
                     Source   1. Fourth All India Educational Survey, NCERT, New Delhi, 1980
                              2. Fifth All India Educational Survey, NCERT, New Delhi, 1992

        
                                                                                                                                             EDUCATION FOR ALL
        
                                                                               Table 41
        
                                                                         Enrolment in Class I
                                                                          1960-61 to 1989-90
        
                                                                                                               (in thousands)
                                                                                  
                                                                                 Class I: Enrolment
                       Year                           Total                            Girls                          Boys
                                                                                  
        
                     1960-61                         13391                              4681                          8710
                     1961-62                         15746                              5706                         10040
                     1962-63                         16404                              6023                         10381
                     1963-64                         16906                              6283                         10623
                     1964-65                         18241                              6949                         11292
                     1965-66                         18884                              7310                         11574
                     1966-67                         19533                              7511                         12022
                     1967-68                         19751                              7637                         12114
                     1968-69                         19836                              7696                         12140
                     1969-70                         19942                              7779                         12163
                     1970-71                         20439                              7925                         12514
                     1971-72                         21119                              8213                         12906
                     1972-73                         22183                              8711                         13472
                     1973-74                         21551                              8504                         13047
                     1974-75                         21976                              8669                         13307
                     1975-76                         21988                              8713                         13275
                     1976-77                         22725                              9185                         13540
                     1977-78                         21127                              8429                         12690
                     1978-79                         21639                              8722                         12917
                     1979-80                         21594                              8689                         12905
                     1980-81                         23053                              9076                         13977
                     1981-82                         22165                              9006                         13159
                     1982-83                         24980                              9971                         15009
                     1983-84                         25552                             10215                         15337
                     1984-85                         23916                              9845                         14071
                     1985-86                         26030                             10701                         15328
                     1986-87                         23423                              9954                         13469
                     1987-88                         24282                             10307                         13975
                     1988-89                         25847                             10760                         15087
                     1989-90                         23592                             10049                         13543
                                                                                  
        
                   Source: 1. A Handbook of Educational and Allied Statistics, MHRD, Deptt. of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 1987
                            2. Education in India, Various Volumes, MHRD, Deptt. of Education, Govt. of India, New Delhi.