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Bangalore, March 29 2012, DHNS:

3.37 lakh govt school dropouts in two years 

As many as 3.37 lakh students studying between class one and class five have dropped out of the government schools across the State over the past two years. 
Similarly, a total of 35.37 lakh students enrolled in class one to five in government schools in 2008-09. But two years later, this number has dropped to 32 lakh children. Of these, 101 Assembly constituencies show a high dropout rate of over 1,000 children each.

These statistics were compiled by IndiaGoverns Research Institute based on the numbers provided by the District Information System for Education, National University of Education, Planing and Administration, New Delhi. 

Correspondingly, the numbers in private schools have increased, albeit only marginally. While government schools saw 1.78 lakh boys dropping out, 46,000 boys joined private schools. A total of 1.59 lakh girls left government schools but the corresponding increase in private schools is only 28,000.

Interestingly, there is only a marginal percentage increase in children enrolling into private schools in the last two years. From 2008-09 to 2010-11, the percentage among boys has gone up from 36 pc to 42 pc, while the percentage among girls has gone up from 33 pc to 38 pc.

The number of boys in government schools has come down from 64 pc to 58 pc, while the number of girls – from 67 pc to 62 pc. Twenty-two per cent of the schools in the State are private schools, and the highest numbers are in Gulbarga North.

Between 2008 and now, 10,986 children have dropped out of the government schools in Chittapur Assembly constituency in Gulbarga, making it the highest in school dropout  rate. constituency with the highest number of school dropouts in the State.

The Assembly constituency of Chincholi (SC) follows suit with 10,866 children leaving government schools, while 7,270 children left the government schools in Shorapur (ST). 

According to Veena Ramanna, Executive Director of the Institute, the objective of releasing the data was to help the legislators track their constituencies better. She said that the legislators could make data backed arguments while asking for resources from the government.