Parliament Question: Low Transition Rate

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 9 ANSWERED ON 21st July, 2025 Low Transition Rate 9. Ms Iqra Choudhary: Shri Mohibbullah: Mrs Ruchi Vira: Shri Zia Ur Rehman: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the key reasons for the low transition rate from primary to secondary education and high dropout rates at the secondary level, especially among boys; (b) the steps taken by the Government to address the issue and to increase the teacher- student ratio in secondary schools and the effect of these steps in improving the retention rate; (c) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to improve the quality of education especially poor learning outcomes and basic infrastructure such as science laboratories, libraries and appointment of qualified teachers particularly female teachers at secondary schools; (d) whether the Government is considering reforms to align education curriculum in line with the National Education Policy 2020 to promote holistic, experiential and skill-based learning that to reduce dropout rates and to enhance employability; and (e) whether the Government has any plans to support State Government in tackling shortage of teachers in secondary schools particularly in educationally backward areas in the country and especially in Shamli, Bijnor and Moradabad districts of Uttar Pradesh? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e) Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of schools fall under the purview of the State government. The States/UTs follow different approaches for preventing dropouts and improving transition rates. The key reasons fordrop out as identified by States/UTs include migration, socio economic condition of families, domestic responsibilities on children, lack of interest of children, poor health of children etc. The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing Samagra Shiksha, an integrated scheme for school education in 2018-19 covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme has also been aligned with the recommendations of NEP 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process. Samagra Shiksha supports all States and UTs for different interventions like composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for science labs, libraries, sports and physical activities, support for Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, ICT and digital initiatives, School Leadership development programme, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, etc. In order to reduce dropout the scheme includes the provision of opening and strengthening of new schools up to senior secondary level; construction of school buildings and additional classrooms; setting up, up-gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas; setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas; free uniforms, free text books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment & retention drives. As per UDISE+ report, the retention rate for secondary level has increased to 45.6 % in 2023-24 from that of 44.1 % of year 2022-23. Also, one of the focus areas of the scheme is to reduce the number of OoSC. Support is provided through special training for age-appropriate admission of Out of School Children and for the training of residential as well as non-residential older children. Financial assistance upto ₹ 2000 per annum is being provided for Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 years, belonging to socio economically disadvantaged groups, for completing their education through NIOS/SIOS, for accessing course materials and certification. Under the student-oriented component for the children with special needs of the scheme, financial assistance is provided for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc.Mid-Day-Meal is another initiative adopted by the department for the students at the elementary level of education under PM-POSHAN scheme. Similarly, under National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage. Ministry of Education released the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Studies (NCF-FS) and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) prepared by the NCERT, aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 on 20th October, 2022 and 23rd August, 2023 respectively. NCF-FS is the first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children between ages 3-8 in India. It is a direct outcome of the 5+3+3+4 ‘curricular and pedagogical’ structure that NEP 2020 has come out with for School Education. Following which, Jadui Pitara: Learning Teaching Material (Jadui Pitara) based on NCF FS has also been launched. It is a play-based learning teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3 to 8 years. The NCF-SE, 2023 provides comprehensive guidance to help students make informed decisions about their educational and career paths, considering both academic and vocational options. It emphasizes the importance of holistic development, recognizing that academic and vocational skills are both crucial for a well-rounded education. It recommends ways of integrating vocational elements into academic subjects to emphasize their interdependence at the Preparatory, Foundation, Middle, and Secondary stages of education. The NCFSE has also provided outlines for designing an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines traditional academic subjects with vocational courses. National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 envisages a stellar role of teachers and has made recommendations for adequate recruitment and rational deployment of teachers including recruitment to a school or school complex and sharing of teachers across schools by grouping of schools adopted by State Governments/UT administrations. Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution the recruitment, service conditions and rational deployment of teachers come under the purview of the respective State Governments/UT Administrations.States/UTs have been advised to prepare a teacher recruitment plan by adopting a system of annual recruitment of teachers as per a fixed calendar. The Central Government through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha, provides financial assistance to maintain appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of schooling to all States and UTs including Uttar Pradesh for the districts of Shamli, Bijnor and Moradabad. The progress regarding filling up of teacher vacancies through a competitive selection examination conducted by States/UTs, with due care for consistency and sanctity and after a technology based comprehensive teacher requirement planning and forecasting exercise, is periodically reviewed by the Department of School Education & Literacy with States/UT. Financial provision is provided under this scheme also for in-service training of teachers, school Heads, subject teachers, resource persons, master trainers, Education Administrators, Teachers Educators, key resource persons, induction training of newly recruited teachers including those in rural and remote areas at elementary and secondary levels through SCERTs and DIETs, as the nodal agencies. ****