EDUCATION STATUS REPORT – UTTAR PRADESH

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
Working Paper | November 2013

Prepared by

Catalyst Management Services (CMS) | CEI - India

Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

CONTENTS

ABBRIVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

1. INTRODCUTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

2. EDUCATION STATUS IN INDIA………………………………………………………………………………………...5

3. STATUS OF ELEMENTRAY EDUCATION IN UTTAR PRADESH……………………………………………6

4. RTE INDICATORS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13

5. QUALITY OF EDUCATIONRECIEVED AND ITS IMPACT……………………………………………………15

6. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………..16

2
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

Abbreviations

ASER Annual Status of Education Report

Avr. Average
BRCs Block Resource Center
CRC Cluster Resource Center
DISE District Information system for Education
DPEP District Primary Education Programme
EBBs Educationally Backward Blocks
ECE Early Childhood Education
EGS Education Guarantee Scheme
Enr. Enrollment
GER Gross Enrollment Ratio
Govt. Government
GPI Gender Parity Index
ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme
KGBV Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalay
MIS Management Information System
MHRD Ministry of Human Resource Development
NLM National Literacy Mission
NER Net Enrollment Ratio
NPE National Policy of Education
NPEGEL National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Level
OBC Other Backward Caste
P. Primary
PTR Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Pvt. Private
POA Program of Action
RTE Right To Education
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
RMSA
SC Schedule Caste
Sch. School
SCR Student Class-room ration
SEMIS Secondary Education Management Information System
Sec./H.Sec. Secondary/ Higher Secondary

3
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

ST Schedule Tribe
SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan
TLM Teaching learning Material
Unrec. Unrecognized
UP Upper Primary

4
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

1. Introduction
Education in today’s world is undoubtedly the most powerful tool to ignite the young minds and
guide the young generation. At a time when our society is fast evolving, it is sound education that
builds the young generation with knowledge and values and empowers them to dream big.

For a society, Development and Education go hand in hand, no society can make progress and
transform itself without investing in educating its citizens. The base for which is laid with
elementary education. It is for this reason all 189 member nations of United Nations committed to
achieving the Millennium development goals (MDGs). The second MDG pledges to achieve
universal primary education. It is for this Indian parliament enacted the Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education Bill, 2009, to provide education to all children between 6 to 14 years of
age. The bill also reserves one fourth of seats in private schools to weaker section of society.

However, any change in policy does not immediately translate into practice in schools.
Concentrated efforts must be made by states and departments of school education to capitalize
on the policy changes and to ensure that good quality education is made available to one and all
the children.

In the last five years, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has made giant strides in the field of primary education.
With a literacy rate of approximately 70 per cent and approximately 351 million school-going
children, Uttar Pradesh has ensured that around 93 per cent of children are enrolled in school.
Today the state has 122,000 schools, 300,000 teachers and 100,000 para-teachers to take care of
the needs of the students at primary and upper primary levels.

It is to note that this significant jump in the enrollment in primary schools in Uttar Pradesh could
not have been possible without successful government initiatives like - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
(SSA) or the Universal Elementary Education scheme and Midday meal scheme. These various
government schemes ensure all children have access to quality education and complete a full
course of elementary schooling.

Before we discuss on the status of elementary education in Uttar Pradesh, it is important to

identify our study group - the present report will focus on education status of children from
Class 1 to Class 8. The age of the children in these classes is generally between 6 to 14 years.

1
The Annual Status of Education Report - 2012
5
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

2. India: Education Status

India recognizes education as a fundamental right of a child and makes appropriate provisions in
its constitution to impart the same. The Right of Children to ‘Free’ and ‘Compulsory’ Education
(RTE) Act, 2009 ensures that every child in the age group 0f 6 – 14 years has a right to full time
elementary education of satisfactory and standard quality in a formal school that fulfills essential
norms and standard as per the requirements. The RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010.

As per the RTE Act, ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted
by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government, shall be
liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing
and completing elementary education. ‘Compulsory education’ casts an obligation on the
appropriate Government and local authorities to provide and ensure admission, attendance and
completion of elementary education by all children in the 6-14 age group”.

As per the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 96.5% of all rural children
between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school. This is the fourth annual survey to report
enrollment above 96%. Also it is to be noted that 83% of all rural 15-16 year olds were enrolled in
school. The survey however also points to a decline in quality of education at these government
schools with decline in quality of government school education fuelling the rise in private schools
enrollment.

In the current context, the government bears the larger responsibility of providing education to
the children, with approximately 80 percent of all schools that provide elementary education are
run or supported by Government. As per the latest figures provided by DISE, approximately 87
percent of schools are located in the rural areas.
The country has a total of 13, 06, 992 schools providing elementary education across 633 districts
as covered under DISE. It is also found that for every 2 elementary school there is an upper
primary school facility available, thus highlighting a satisfactory availability of schools at
elementary and upper elementary levels.

3. Status of Elementary Education in Uttar Pradesh

3.1 DEMOGRAPHY

'I had been to other countries - in Europe, Asia and the Middle East - but none of them had
provided even half as much variety, or so much to see and experience and remember, as this one
State in northern India. You can travel from one end of Australia to the other, but everywhere on
that vast continent you will find that people dress in the same way, eat the same kind of food,
listen to the same music. This colorless uniformity is apparent in many other countries of the world,

6
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

both East and West. But Uttar Pradesh is a world in itself.'

- Ruskin Bond

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India with total population of 19, 95, 81, 477. It is also
one of the biggest states in India with a geographical area encompassing 2, 40, 928 square
kilometres and comprising of 75 districts, 820 development blocks and over a lakh inhabited
villages.

Population (As per census 2011 Provisional data) : 19,95,81,477

(a)Males (As per census 2011 ) : 10,45,96, 415
b)Females (As per census 2011 ) : 94, 985,062
Decennial Growth rate (2001-2011) (As per census 2011 ) : 20.09 percent
Sex Ratio (As per census 2011 ) : 908 per thousand
Density (persons per sq. km.) (As per census 2011 ) : 828 per thousand
Child Population (0-6 years) (As per census 2011 ) : 29,728,235
Child sex ratio (0-6 years) (As per census 2011 )) : 899 per thousand
Total Literacy rate-
Persons : 69.72 percent
a)Male Literacy : 79.24 percent
b)Female Literacy : 59.26 percent

3.1 Number of Schools

The total number of schools imparting elementary education in Uttar Pradesh (As per DISE 2011)
is 2, 21, 653 with a large percentage 69.78 percentage of it being government schools.

A look at the below given table highlights the status of elementary education in Uttar Pradesh in
detail -

Status of Elementary Education in Uttar Pradesh, DISE 2011-12

Indicators Uttar Pradesh India

Number of schools imparting 221653 1412178
elementary education covered
by DISE
Percentage of government 69.78 % 76.36 %

7
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

share to total schools

Percentage of private share to 29.65 % 21.20 %
total schools
Schools in Rural Areas (All 89.18 % 85.99 %
Schools)

A glance at the total enrollment in primary and upper primary schools in Uttar Pradesh for the
year 2011-12 is given below.

Uttar Pradesh India

Class I – V 26188803 137099984
Class VI – VII 9215942 61955154

3.2 Analytical Overview of Primary School Education 2

Let’s take a look at how a primary school in Uttar Pradesh looks and how it functions and analyze
the available facilities and its features:

Approximately 70 % of primary only schools in Uttar Pradesh have more than 150 students and
also have a Head master/teacher. All schools in Uttar Pradesh are accessible by road during any
time of the year and season. A Primary school has an average of 37 students in each classroom
and has a average of 4.4 classrooms per school. There are 56 such districts, ie majority of districts
in Uttar Pradesh where the student classroom ratio is more than 30 students per classroom. The
school has an average of 226 instructional days in a year.

If you look at the teachers in the all schools (including the primary school) in the state,
approximately 1 out of every 10 school is a single teacher school. If any school has more than 2
teachers, one out of them will be a female teacher in 78 % of schools.

In every class approximately 51 % of the students are boys and 41 % are girls. If one looks at the
student teacher ratio in a primary school, there is one teacher for every 46 students. A primary
school has an average of 3. 7 teachers per school. 60 % government primary schools have more
than 30 students per teacher. All schools in 68 out of 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh have more than
30 students per teacher.

3.3 Expenditure on Education

The current public spending on education by government of India is around 4 % percent of its
GDP. During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan the Government’s (GOI and states) budget for Sarva
Shikha Abhiyaan increased nearly 3-fold from 21,360 Crores in FY 2007-08 to 61,734 Crores in

2
Status of Elementary education in Uttar Pradesh: DISE 2011 – 12
8
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

FY2011-12. In this period, the per student allocation has more than tripled from an India average
of Rs. 1,598 in FY 2007 – 2008 to Rs. 4,746 in FY2011 – 2012. Allocations are keeping in pace but
only 61 percent of allocation were spent in FY 2011 – 2012. Comparison between FY 2007 – 2008
and 2011 – 2012 the former spent 87 % of the total allocation and the later spent 62%.

The above given table highlights the results of a survey (India Human Development Survey 2010)
of 41,554 households across India to compare the incidence of private schooling and the relative
costs of such schooling across States. The table gives an estimate of annual schooling cost per
children in different states of India in the year 2010 and reinforces the point that to ensure
quality, raising the level of public expenditure in education is absolutely essential. All this is
especially important now that the right to education has become enshrined in law.

Currently, the state government and the centre combined spend around 14 per cent of the total
expenditure on education at all levels. In the year 2012-13, The State of Uttar Pradesh had a
budgetary allocation of Rs 32886 crore rupees for Education sector, out of the total state budget
of 2,21,201.19 crores. Of total amount allocated under education Rs 25,109 crore has been
earmarked made for primary education.

3.4 Enrollment, Retention and Dropouts3

With the current spending on education let us analyse how far the state has been successful in
enrolling and retaining students in the schools.

3
Status of Elementary education in Uttar Pradesh: DISE 2011 – 12
9
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

Gross Enrolment Ratio4: -

State/ (Primary Level) (Upper Primary levels )

Country 2010-11 2010 – 11
Uttar Pradesh 105.17 59.58
India 118.62 81.15

Net Enrolment Ratio5: -

State/ (Primary Level) (Upper Primary levels )

Country 2010-11 2010 – 11
Uttar Pradesh 94.18 47.13
India 99.89 61.82

Average Dropout rate:

State/ (Primary Level) (Upper Primary levels )

Country 2010-11 2010 – 11
Uttar Pradesh 11.85 3.97
India 6.5 6.56

Average Retention at primary level in Schools:

State/ Country (Primary Level)

2010-11
Uttar Pradesh 80.39
India 75.94

The above mentioned data is reflective of the total percentage of children enrolled in the school
and are attending the school. At the primary level, Uttar Pradesh has a fairly impressive net

4
The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is a statistical measure used in the education sector to determine the number of
students enrolled in school at different grade levels (like elementary, middle and high school) and examine it to
analyze the ratio of the number of students who live in that country to those who qualify for the particular grade level.
5
The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) is defined by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics as enrolment of the official age-
group for a given level of education expressed as a percentage of the corresponding population.
10
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

enrollment ratio of 94 % which mean that out of 100 students there are only 6 students who are
left out.
In terms of drop out, it is the average number of student that enrolls in the school but could not
complete the education, in other words the percentage of children opting out of the education
system or has not been able to attend the school in that academic year is the drop out rate. For
Uttar Pradesh, roughly every 12 student out of 100 at primary level is unable to complete his
education.
The retention of student in the school at primary level is above the national average with almost
80 % of students continuing the elementary education in Uttar Pradesh. The government should
now focus to reduce the drop out rate and increase the retention of students in the school.

3.5 Literacy in Uttar Pradesh6

Literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh has seen upward trend and is 67.68 percent as per 2011 population
census. Of that, male literacy stands at 77.28 percent while female literacy is at 51.36 percent. In
2001, literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh stood at 56.27 percent of which male and female were 67.30
percent and 43.00 percent literate respectively. In actual numbers, total literates in Uttar Pradesh
stands at 114,397,555 of which males were 68,234,964 and females were 46,162,591.
GautamBudhh Nagar, Kanpur Nagar, Auraiya, Etawah and Ghaziabad are the top 5 districts in
terms of literacy rate with the highest being 80.12 %.

ANALYSIS: Literacy means the ability of an individual to read or write any one language, it is a
significant development indicator which highlights the ability of a citizen to participate in society
and to understand important public issues. It is the foundation on which the education system is
built and is significant development indicator of the state.

3.6 Enrollment of All Sections of Society in Schools

Education is the best way to empower and bring different sections of society into the mainstream.
With multiple caste and religions it is important to bring parity between all sections of society by
providing them good quality education. Let us take a look at the participation of Schedule caste
and Schedule Tribe, Muslims in enrollment in government/private schools and analyse it with
respect to their population:

Percentage SC Enrollment:

6
http://www.census2011.co.in/census/state/uttar+pradesh.html
11
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

State/ (Class I- VIII)

Country 2011-11
Uttar Pradesh 26.94 (P = 21.10 %)
India 19.80

Percentage ST Enrollment:

State/ (Class I- VIII)

Country 2011-11
Uttar Pradesh 0.78 (P- 0.10 %)
India 10.92

Percentage of Muslims Enrolled in schools: (Population = 18.50%)

State/ Primary Upper Primary level (Class I- VIII)

Country Overall
Uttar Pradesh 10.18 8.10 9.64
India 13.31 11.65 12.79

A close look at the above given statistics reveal a skewed picture of participation by population
percentages. On one hand the participation of SC in education has increased significantly and has
even surpassed the national average the low participation of Muslims in schools and education is
also a cause of concern. The percentage of Muslim participation also has a different angle with a
good number of Muslim children going to Madrasas for education.

If you add the transition rate of students to the enrollment figures, the effective continuation of
the education gets further reduced. As per the available data7, approximately only 70 out of 100
students that enroll in primary schools go on to upper primary schools. Considering these
situations, the state must strive and create conducive environment for education of children from
all caste and religions.

3.7 Public Vs Private School

The current scenario highlights a transition of preferences from government schools to private
schools. Quality of education is an important factor driving this change of preferences.

7
Status of Elementary education in Uttar Pradesh, DISE 2011-12
12
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

School enrollment of Children in the age group 6 - 14 yrs

Not in School ,
Other (Madrasa, 6.40%
EGS) , 2.50%
Governnment School Governnment School
, 42.70% Private School
Other (Madrasa, EGS)
Private School ,
48.50% Not in School

A critical look at the data points to a situation of 48.5 % of total children in the age group of 6 – 14
yrs goes to private schools with 42.7 % of them preferring the government schools. The situation
is similar in the age group of 7 -16 yrs where 48.6 % of total children in the age group of 7 – 16 yrs
go to private schools with 45.0 % of them preferring the government schools.

This shift towards private school does not stop here, it is estimated that private school enrollment
is increasing at the rate of 10 % per year and with declining quality of government schools and
reduced learning levels of students in government schools, the coming times are testing for the
government schools.

ANALYSIS: Quality of education in government schools has suffered a lot in recent years, with
the learning levels being reduced in the last few years and the existing perception
in rural and urban folk that quality of education in private school is better is making
the prefer private schools over the government ones. If the trend continues private
school would take over government schools as the provider of elementary
education by 2020. The department must take stringent measure to not only
improve quality of education but also find ways to retain the enrolled children in
their schools.

3.8 Expenses on Tuition: An Alarming trend

With increasing private schools enrollment, the fast life is also making parents send their children
to take tuition classes. Apart from spending on the school fees and other stationary requirements,
expenses on tuition are on an increase as more students are now taking tuition than before.

As per the ASER findings, in 2012, 11.2 % of all school children took paid tuition to supplement
their school based learning compared to 10.1 % last year. The increase is higher if we observe only

13
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

the private school students with 15.9 % of private school students taking paid tuitions in 2012
compared to 14.5 % in 2011.

ANALYSIS: The need for taking tuitions also increases as the student moves from Std II to Std
VIII. However, this supplemental educational need is also showing positive impact
on the reading, comprehension and arithmetic levels of the students. The students
who take tuitions perform better than those students who do not take any tuition
in these indicators.

4 RETE Indicators and Their Compliance By Schools

The right of child to free and compulsary education act, 2009 specifies a series of norms and
standards for a school.

As per the norm the following facilities (Indicators on the left side) should be made available to
every student in the schools. The table given below looks at some of the RTE norms and its
Compliance by schools –

S No: Facilities available in schools Percentage (year 2012)

1 Boundary Wall 58.5 %
2 Play ground for children 66.9 %
3 Drinking Water available 81.3 %
4 Having Common Toilet Facility (Functional) 52.5 %
5 Girls Toilets (Functional) 43.7 % (16.7 percent of schools have no
provision for girls toilet)
6 Library 82.2 %
7 Mid-day meal served in school 85.6 %

ANALYSIS: Availability of basic necessities and infrastructure like drinking water, toilet facility is
not met with in every school and is a cause of concern. Overall the indicators are not
healthy and need to be ensured for giving every child a good education and overall
development.

5 Quality of Education Received and its Impact8

6
Annual Status of Education Report - 2012
14
 Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

ASER findings highlight a clear gap in the quality of the current education system. As part of the
overall study reading, comprehension and arithmetic levels of the children was assessed to
analyze the impact of our current education system.

How do our children READ?

% Children by Class and Reading Level All Schools – 2012

Standard Not Even Letter Letter Word Level – 1 (Std I Text) Level 2 (Std II Text) Total
I 53.9 33.7 6.4 3.1 3.0 100
II 28.1 40.2 13.5 8.6 9.6 100
III 18.2 34.1 16.0 13.1 18.7 100
IV 11.8 26.4 14.8 15.4 31.7 100
V 9.4 19.6 13.0 15.4 42.7 100
VI 5.5 15.1 10.5 15.5 53.4 100
VII 3.4 11.9 8.8 14.1 61.8 100
VIII 2.7 9.1 7.0 11.6 69.6 100
Total 20.7 26.1 11.2 11.2 30.8 100

Analysis: The above table gives a measure of reading skills of percentage of children. For example
– In Std III 18.2 % children cannot even read letters, 34.1 % can read letters but not
more, 16% can read words but not std 1 text or higher, 13.1 % can read Std 1 text but
not Std II text and 18.7 % can read Std II text. For each class the total of all these
exclusive categories is 100 %.

A clear need for realigning our education inputs with its outcomes is felt, as apparent
from the decline in the reading, comprehension and arithmetic levels of the school
children.

Reading and Comprehension in English: -

Similarly if we analyse the reading and comprehension skills of students in English,
% Children by Class and Reading Level in English All Schools – 2012
Standard Not Even Capital Letter Capital Letter Small Simple Words Easy Tota
letters Sentences l
I 64.4 18.5 11.8 4.2 1.2 100
II 42.8 24.9 20.8 8.3 3.2 100
III 33.7 24.3 23.4 13.2 5.5 100
IV 25.6 21.8 24.8 18.0 9.8 100
V 20.4 18.5 24.3 21.3 15.5 100
VI 14.7 16.3 26.2 23.3 19.5 100
VII 11.8 13.2 23.7 25.2 26.1 100
VIII 9.1 11.0 21.6 26.5 31.9 100
15
 Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

Total 32.2 19.3 21.2 15.6 11.7 100

Analysis: Startling that it may sound, reading levels are estimated to have declined in recent
times in India. The all India figure for the proportion of children in class V able to read a
class II level text has dropped from approximately 35 % in 2010 to approximately 25 %
in 2012. Such a decline is alarming to say the least. The unsatisfactory levels of basic
reading ability suggested by ASER points to an urgent need from department of
education to focus on basic learning outcomes. The decline however is not so much in
private schools as it is evident in government schools.

Arithmetic:-

Similar is the case for Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2012 which also shows a decline.
Nationally, the proportion of class III children able to solve a two-digit subtraction problem with
borrowing has dropped from approximately 25.0% in 2010 to below 20% in 2012. Among children
of class V, the ability to do a similar division problem has dropped from 5 percentage pints from
2010 to 2012.

What does this decline in learning levels tells us?

The apparent decline in learning levels tells us few things, one that this decline has not happened
overnight but is happening for last few years and must be looked into analytically for its causes.
Post the introduction of Right to Education Act the emphasis on exams has been relaxed as no
child is to be kept back and the focus has shifted from achieving basic learning outcomes to
completing the syllabus.
Given the trend, it is time that governments focuses on teaching-learning of the basic foundational
skills for primary education and take corrective measures to reverse the declining learning level
trend otherwise the state of education in Uttar Pradesh like few other north Indian state face a
tough time in near future.

6. Conclusion

The performance of Uttar Pradesh in the field of human development, especially in elementary
education, has been on a upscale throughout the last decade. Even though It has not yet achieved
the goal of universal access to elementary education, from now on it will have to not only achieve
the target of universal enrolment and retention, but also equally focus on improving its quality. In
the last few years, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan have been very successful in increasing the enrollment
at these primary schools, however, the quality of teaching and learning in the rural public schools
is a cause of concern.

It is a dual challenge for government of Uttar Pradesh as this decline in learning is also coupled
with a double digit drop-out rate in primary schools and adds to this the need of infrastructure
16
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

and other basic facilities that our government schools do not adhere to as per the RTE compliance;
improving the education scenario is no mean task in hand.

On a positive note private sector brings in fairly better facilities and improved learning levels, thus
making it important for state to tap yet manage the private sector through effective regulations
and create a complementary model for extending the basic right to education to its rightful
recipient.

17
Education Status Report – Uttar Pradesh

References

1) http://upgov.nic.in/upecon.aspx
2) http://upgov.nic.in/upstateglance.aspx
3) http://mhrd.gov.in/rte
4) http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/ghosh290611.html
5) Status of Elementary education in Uttar Pradesh, DISE 2011-12
6) Annual Status of Education Report - 2012

18