Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20

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Union Education Minister released a Report on United District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20″

About U-DISE

• U-DISE (Unified District Information System for Education) is a database about schools in India.
• The database was developed at the Department of School Education, MHRD, Govt. of India and Maintained by the National Informatics Centre, Govt. of India.
• It records information such as the level of dropouts and the condition of school toilets.
• UDISE+
  • launched in 2018-2019. 
  • It is the largest Management Information system in school education. 
  • It covers 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million teachers and 250 million children. 
  • It was launched for speeding up data entry, reducing errors, improving data quality and easing its verification. 
  • It is an advanced and improved version of UDISE which was launched in 2012-2013 by integrating DISE for elementary education & SEMIS for secondary education

Key Findings of the Report

• Gross Enrolment Ratio
  • GER at all levels of school education has improved in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19. 
  • 98% of students in Classes 1-8 attended school, 
  • Though the GER for secondary and senior secondary students stood at 78% and 51% respectively. 
  • In 2019-20, total students in school education from pre-primary to higher secondary have crossed 26.45 crores. This is higher by 42.3 lakh compared to 2018-19.
• Dropout Rates: The dropout rate at the secondary level was 17% in 2019-20, with experts warning that dropouts are likely to surge due to the pandemic.
• Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR): PTR has improved at all levels of school education.
• Gender Parity Index (GPI): GPI at both Secondary and Higher Secondary levels have improved. In 2019-20, enrolment of girls from primary to higher secondary is more than 12.08 crore. This is a substantial increase by 14.08 lakh compared to 2018-19.. 
• Enhanced Infrastructure: Between 2012-13 and 2019-20, the number of schools with functional electricity, functional computers, internet facilities also increased
  • More than 80% of schools in India in 2019-20 had functional electricity. This is an improvement of more than 6% over the previous year 2018-19.
  • The number of schools having functional computers increased to 5.2 lakh in 2019-20 from 4.7 lakh in 2018-19.
  • The number of schools having internet facilities increased to 3.36 lakh in 2019-20 from 2.9 lakh in 2018-19.

Image Courtesy: TH

• Improved Sanitation: The number of schools with hand wash facilities saw improvement. In the year 2019-20, more than 90% of schools in India had hand wash facilities as compared to only 36.3% in 2012-13. It will gain added importance as they implement COVID-19 safety protocols while reopening. 
• More Medical Checkups: More than 82% of schools conducted medical check-ups of students in 2019-20, an increase of more than 4% compared to the previous year 2018-19. In 2012-13, about 61.1% of schools conducted medical checkups.
• Library/Reading Rooms: More than 84% of schools in India had a library/reading room/ reading corner in 2019-20, an improvement of nearly 4% compared to the previous year. In 2012-13, about 69.2% of schools had a library/ reading room/ reading corner.

Challenges

• Contrast in States
  • In States such as Chhattisgarh (83%) and Jharkhand (73%), installation of computer facilities in most government schools paid off, while in others such as Tamil Nadu (77%), Gujarat (74%) and Maharashtra (71%), private schools had higher levels of computer availability than in government schools.
  • However, in States such as Assam (13%), Madhya Pradesh (13%), Bihar (14%), West Bengal (14%), Tripura (15%) and Uttar Pradesh (18%), less than one in five schools had working computers. 
  • The situation is worse in government schools, with less than 5% of U.P.’s government schools having the facility.
  • 90% of schools, both government and private, had access to working computers – In many Union Territories, as well as in the State of Kerala
• Connectivity divide:
  • Only three States — Kerala (88%), Delhi (86%) and Gujarat (71%) — have Internet facilities in more than half their schools. 
  • This will make it hard for most schools to implement the options for hybrid learning as schools try to re-open with staggered attendance post the pandemic.

Way Forward

• Timely and accurate data is the basis of sound and effective planning and decision-making. 
• The establishment of a well-functioning and Sustainable Educational Management Information System is of utmost importance today.

Sources: TH