Bhubaneswar: A written response of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to queries from DMK MP Kalanidhi Veerswamy has created confusion in mass media. However, Odisha School & Mass Education (S&ME) Minister Sudam Marndi today wrote a letter to the Union Minister and cleared the air.
In response to this, the S&ME Minister wrote to the Union Minister expressing deep concern for the State government as the written response by Pradhan was made based on the facts and figures of UDISE+ database relating to the Academic Year 2021-22, a press release issued in this regard mentioned.
Citing the D.O. No.23-7/2002-State, dated 23rd March, 2023 from the Secretary, Government of India, Ministry of Education, Department of School Education & LR, S&ME Minister Marndi has drawn the attention of the Union Minister to the fact that the present endorsement data captured through UDISE+ in itself is not sufficient for the calculation of drop-out rate as there are various schools/ institutions/ organisations and students enrolled in different categories like ITIs and correspondence courses that are under the purview of State government, have been left uncovered in UDISE+ database.
“If those 1.4 lakh students enrolled in different institutions other than the traditional +2 courses are taken into account, the drop-out rate of students in the case of Odisha will drastically be reduced. Repeated submissions have been made by SPD, OSEPA in this regard,” the communiqué said.
Moreover, it has also been mentioned that the UDISE+ database relating to the Academic Year 2022-23 has already been submitted to the Government of India a few months ago.
It is pertinent to mention, due to an incessant thrust on education under the visionary leadership of Odisha Chief Minister, the drop-out rate has drastically come down by approximately 20 percentages in the Academic Year of 2022-23, as per the data submitted in UDISE+. The drop-out rate will further be reduced if those 1.4 lakh students enrolled in different institutions other than the traditional +2 courses are taken into account.
Notably, the Union Minister has been requested that the data entered in UDISE+ for the Academic Year 2022-23 should be released at the earliest and the enrolment of students in other institutions not covered under UDISE+ like ITIs etc should be integrated with the data available under UDISE+ for a pragmatic and practical assessment of drop-out rates and progress of State in Education.
