Bhubaneswar: As many as 9,387 students at the Secondary level and 254 students at the Elementary level under the School and Mass Education Department have dropped out before completing their education in the academic year 2024-25 in the State, informed Nityananda Gond Minister of School and Mass Education in the Odisha Assembly on Friday.
Here is the district-wise detail of the dropout students shared by the Minister Gond in the House while responding to a query raised by BJP MLA Upasana Mahapatra.
The Minister said that primary reasons for students dropping out midway include various family and social factors, as well as parents’ reluctance to send their children to school.
It is noteworthy that UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) regularly collects data from recognized schools.
However, students studying in vocational, technical, polytechnic, and open schooling institutions are not included in UDISE+ data. Hence, the dropout rate in the state appears temporarily higher.
According to UDISE+ data, most of these so-called “dropout” students are not actual dropouts. A majority of them are enrolled in other institutions, such as vocational, technical, polytechnic, and open schools.
It may also be noted that over the past three years, the dropout rate in the state has been declining at all levels. Additionally, compared to the national average, Odisha has a lower dropout rate at both primary and secondary school levels.
