Bhubaneswar: Apart from the major investment in the development of educational infrastructure by the Odisha government, the registration of children in schools declined slightly down from 86% in 2018 to 83% this year, according to the annual status of the education report (Aser) 2021.
Contrary to the trend of the increase in the national government school registration, there has been an increase in the acceptance of private schools in Odisha, added the report.
“It seems that Odisha people do not have sufficient trust in government schools whose registration is in the institutions managed by the state even though financial problems are caused by a pandemic,” said Kamala Prasad Mohapatra, an education.
“The government has been busy transforming schools by increasing school cosmetic infrastructure such as wall paintings and furniture.
But problems such as large-scale teachers vacancies, proper training and pedagogy are being ignored for years force private schools than.
The government must work to regain parents’ trust In the school education system that is managed by the government, “he added.
Experts also asked questions for registration figures in reports saying that many parents throughout the country have shifted their children to government schools after a pandemic.
“The numbers in the report are rather confusing.
From the land report, we have noticed that many parents divert their children from public schools to government schools due to financial stress caused by pandemic.
Parents not only attract their children From private schools.
But also from Odia Middle School, “said Anil Pradhan, Convener, RTE forum, a voluntary organization working in the education sector.
Dependence on private lectures in Odisha has increased from 57.5% in 2018 to 66.2% by 2021, an 8.6% surge regardless of the class, the type of school and gender.
The biggest increase in the proportion of children who took lectures seen among children from the most fortunate households.
On access to smartphones during the closing of the school, the report said that 19.2% of students in Odisha could not access them for their studies during a temporary pandemic of 64.6% of children had at least one smartphone at home.
In 2018, around 26.1% of households had a smartphone at home, while in 2020 increased to 49.3% and to 64.6% by 2021, the report added.
“Extending the availability of smartphones in the household does not automatically translate into children’s access to smartphones.
In all classes, although more than two-thirds of all the registered children have a smartphone at home, a quarter of this has full access to their studies, while Almost half has partial access, and the remaining quarter does not have access at all, “said the report.