High dropout rate a challenge to education MDG, says report

KATHMANDU, JUN 28 -

With only three years left to meet the education Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a ‘Flash Report 2012’, released by the Department of Education (DoE) a week ago, paints a gloomy picture of Nepal’s achievements.

As per the MDGs, Nepal needs to ensure primary education for every child by 2015, which was short by 36 percent when the target was first set in 1999. The growth rate in student enrollment should have been three percent to meet the goal but presently rests at only around two.

By 2012, the country’s enrollment rate (ER) should have hit 97 percent but is now hovering just above 95. Experts say actual data is even more pessimistic as government schools have been over-reporting student numbers, especially after the promulgation of the Per Capita Funding (PCF) policy. The PCF policy allocates teachers and funds to schools in proportion to the number of students enrolled. Although Nepal has allocated 17 percent of the total budget to education, it is unlikely to achieve the MDG mainly due to the high dropout rate. “Although lagging behind in enrollment rates, the high dropout and repetition rates are the main challenges to the government,” said Tirtha Khaniya, an educationist. “Those outside the school system are from marginalised communities and won’t join schools unless the government creates a special programme for them.”

The DOE report stated that just 74.3 percent of children enrolled in Grade 1 reach Grade 5 while 45 percent quit school before reaching the lower secondary level. According to the report, 7.9 percent of students drop out after the first year while 59.2 percent are out of the education system by the time they reach Grade 10.

The repetition rate also depicts a serious concern. Class repetition rate is 21.3 percent for Grade 1, 8.3 percent for Grade 2 and 7.4, 7.5 and 8.4 percent in grades 3, 4 and 5, respectively.

“The government has launched enrollment campaigns to attract children to schools, however there haven’t been effective programmes to hold them in the classrooms,” said Khaniya.

Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/06/28/capital/high-dropout-rate-a-challenge-to-education-mdg-says-report/356269/