Proportion of elementary school-going children witness significant declines: Survey

SRINAGAR, JULY 04 (PTK): The Economic Survey 2019, tabled in Parliament today said the proportion of elementary school-going children, in the 5-14 age group, will witness significant declines.

Survey said many states need to pay greater attention to consolidating or merging schools to make them viable rather than building new ones, contrary to popular perception.

As of 2016, population in the 5-14 age-group, which roughly corresponds to the number of elementary school-going children, has already begun declining in India and across all major states except Jammu and Kashmir, the Survey says.

Population projections suggest, it also said, that this trend will continue through 2041.

“Overall, the number of school-going children in India will decline by 18.4 per cent between 2021 and 2041. This will have very important social and economic consequences,” the Survey said.

“In fact, the number of elementary schools with less than 50 students has increased over the past decade across all major states except Delhi,” the Survey said.

“The time may soon come in many states to consolidate/merge elementary schools in order to keep them viable. Schools located within 1-3 kms radius of each other can be chosen for this purpose to ensure no significant change in access,” it said.  (PTK)