Lok Sabha Question No. 9 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-21
Subject: Low Transition Rate
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Ms Iqra Choudhary, Shri Mohibbullah, Mrs Ruchi Vira, Shri Zia Ur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 9 ANSWERED ON 21 st  July, 2025

## Low Transition Rate

9. Ms Iqra Choudhary:

Shri Mohibbullah:

Mrs Ruchi Vira:

Shri Zia Ur Rehman:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the key reasons for the low transition rate from primary to secondary education and high dropout rates at the secondary level, especially among boys; (b) the steps taken by the Government to address the issue and to increase the teacherstudent ratio in secondary schools and the effect of these steps in improving the retention rate; (c) the details of initiatives taken by the Government to improve the quality of education especially poor learning outcomes and basic infrastructure such as science laboratories, libraries and appointment of qualified teachers particularly female teachers at secondary schools; (d) whether the Government is considering reforms to align education curriculum in line with the National Education Policy 2020 to promote holistic, experiential and skill-based learning that to reduce dropout rates and to enhance employability; and (e)  whether  the  Government  has  any  plans  to  support  State  Government  in  tackling shortage of teachers in secondary schools particularly in educationally backward areas in
- the country and especially in Shamli, Bijnor and Moradabad districts of Uttar Pradesh?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

- (a) to (e) Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of schools fall under  the purview  of the  State  government. The  States/UTs  follow different approaches for preventing dropouts and improving transition rates.  The key reasons for

drop  out  as  identified  by  States/UTs  include  migration,  socio  economic  condition  of families, domestic responsibilities on children, lack of interest of children, poor health of children etc. The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing Samagra Shiksha, an integrated scheme for school education in 2018-19 covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme has also been aligned with the recommendations  of  NEP  2020  to  ensure  that  all  children  have  access  to  quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of  their  diverse  background,  multilingual  needs,  different  academic  abilities  and  make them active participants in the learning process.

Samagra  Shiksha  supports  all  States  and  UTs  for  different  interventions  like composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants  for  science  labs,  libraries,  sports  and  physical  activities,  support  for  Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, ICT and digital initiatives, School Leadership development programme, remedial teaching for academically weaker students, etc.

In  order  to  reduce  dropout  the  scheme  includes  the  provision  of  opening  and strengthening  of  new  schools  up  to  senior  secondary  level;  construction  of  school buildings  and  additional  classrooms;  setting  up,  up-gradation  and  running  of  Kasturba Gandhi  Balika Vidyalayas; setting up of Netaji  Subhash  Chandra  Bose  Avasiya Vidyalayas; free uniforms, free text books, transport allowance and undertaking enrolment &  retention  drives.  As  per  UDISE+  report,  the  retention  rate  for  secondary  level  has increased to 45.6 % in 2023-24 from that of 44.1 % of year 2022-23.

Also,  one  of  the  focus  areas  of  the  scheme  is  to  reduce  the  number  of  OoSC. Support  is  provided  through  special  training  for  age-appropriate  admission  of  Out  of School Children and for the training of residential as well as non-residential older children. Financial assistance upto ₹ 2000 per annum is being provided for Out of School Children of age group of 16-19 years, belonging to socio economically disadvantaged groups, for completing  their  education  through  NIOS/SIOS,  for  accessing  course  materials  and certification.

Under  the  student-oriented  component  for  the  children  with  special  needs  of  the scheme, financial assistance is provided for identification and assessment of children with special needs, aids and appliances, braille kits and books, appropriate teaching learning material and stipend to girl students with disability etc.

Mid-Day-Meal is another initiative adopted by the department for the students at the elementary  level  of  education  under  PM-POSHAN  scheme.  Similarly,  under  National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme, scholarship is awarded to meritorious students of economically weaker sections to arrest their drop out at class VIII and encourage them to continue the study at secondary stage.

Ministry of Education released the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Studies  (NCF-FS) and National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) prepared  by  the  NCERT,  aligned  with  the  National  Education  Policy  2020  on  20th October, 2022 and 23rd August, 2023 respectively.

NCF-FS is the first ever integrated Curriculum Framework for children between ages 3-8 in India. It is a direct outcome of the 5+3+3+4 'curricular and pedagogical' structure that  NEP 2020 has come out with for School Education. Following which, Jadui Pitara: Learning Teaching Material (Jadui Pitara) based on NCF FS has also been launched. It is a play-based learning teaching material tailored for children between the age group of 3 to 8 years.

The  NCF-SE,  2023  provides  comprehensive  guidance  to  help  students  make informed decisions about their educational and career paths, considering both academic and vocational options. It emphasizes the importance of holistic development, recognizing that  academic  and  vocational  skills  are  both  crucial  for  a  well-rounded  education.  It recommends  ways  of integrating vocational elements into academic subjects to emphasize their interdependence at the Preparatory, Foundation, Middle, and Secondary stages of education. The NCFSE  has  also provided outlines for designing an interdisciplinary  curriculum  that  combines  traditional  academic  subjects  with  vocational courses.

National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 envisages a stellar role of teachers and has made  recommendations  for  adequate  recruitment  and  rational  deployment  of  teachers including  recruitment  to  a  school  or  school  complex  and  sharing  of  teachers  across schools  by  grouping  of  schools  adopted  by  State  Governments/UT  administrations. Education  being  a  subject  in  the  Concurrent  List  of  the  Constitution  the  recruitment, service  conditions  and  rational  deployment  of  teachers  come  under  the  purview  of  the respective State Governments/UT Administrations.

States/UTs have been advised to prepare a teacher recruitment plan by adopting a system  of  annual  recruitment of teachers as per a fixed calendar.  The  Central Government  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha,  provides financial assistance to maintain appropriate Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of  schooling  to  all  States  and  UTs  including  Uttar  Pradesh  for  the  districts  of  Shamli, Bijnor and Moradabad. The progress regarding filling up of teacher vacancies through a competitive selection examination conducted by States/UTs, with due care for consistency and sanctity and after a technology based comprehensive teacher requirement planning and forecasting exercise, is periodically reviewed by the Department  of  School  Education  &  Literacy  with  States/UT.  Financial  provision  is provided under this scheme also for in-service training of teachers, school Heads, subject teachers, resource persons, master trainers, Education Administrators, Teachers Educators, key resource persons, induction training of newly recruited teachers including those in rural and remote areas at elementary and secondary levels through SCERTs and DIETs, as the nodal agencies.

****