Mangalore, May 18: Despite the state and central governments introducing several schemes to ensure the quality of education in state-run schools, the dropout rate in Karnataka has not come down.
According to a survey conducted by SSA last year about 60% of students in government schools drop out by the time they reach SSLC. However, there is a reason to smile as the annual dropout rate in undivided Dakshina Kannada district is just 0.5%, the lowest in the state.
N Shivaprakash, deputy project coordinator of DK district SSA, told TOI that the dropout rate is highest in north Karnataka region. “The survey that SSA conducted last year shows that, of the 100 students who join class I in a year, 60 drop out of school before they reach class X. Most students are dropping out during their transition from higher primary to high school,” he added.
“In rural areas, parents are not letting girls belonging to minority communities to continue with their studies after they finish class VII. Boys in villages are forced to lend a hand in farming and earn for their families,” he added citing the reason for the high dropout rate.
In Dakshina Kannada district while 7,656 students drop out in 2002, the number has fallen to 132 in 2012. “There is a high school in every 5 km in the coastal region. This is the reason behind the fallen dropout rate. There are 931 government schools in the district,” he added.
