------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | New on Goanet's website's A&E section - http://www.goanet.org | | Book in Review: A Kind of Absence - Joao da Veiga Coutinho | | POEM: SUSEGAAD - Cynthia Gomes James | | http://www.goanet.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid!6 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goa tops enrollment in rural schools 18 Jan 2006 - UNI
New Delhi, Jan 17: Goa has beaten the 100 per cent literate Kerala to record the lowest number of children out of school in villages. Only 0.3 per cent of all children in the tiny coastal state do not go to school compared to 1.6 per cent of Kerala's, says a new national survey. Karnataka comes third with 1.9 per cent followed by Uttaranchal (2 per cent), Tamil Nadu (2.7 per cent) and Maharashtra (2.8) in the Annual Status of Education Report for villages released by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia this evening. Of the 18 states covered by the report, the result of an independent survey by non-governmental organisations, Gujarat was placed seventh with 3.6 per cent of all children in villages out of school. Madhya Pradesh comes eight with 4 per cent followed by Punjab (4.3 per cent), West Bengal (4.4 per cent), Chhattisgarh (4.7 per cent), Haryana (5.3 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (7.3 per cent). Andhra Pradesh (7.4 per cent), Orissa (8.9 per cent) and Jharkhand (9.8 per cent) come close to the end of the table. The end of the table, however, is occupied by Bihar with 13.5 per cent of its children in villages out of school. Rajasthan is marginally better at 10.4 per cent, but comes penultimate in the table of 18 states. According to the report, 93.4 per cent children between 6 and 14 years are today enrolled in school. Government schools account for 75.1 per cent of enrollment in this age group and 16.4 per cent in private schools, but madrassas and other forms of education account for a low one per cent. The report says 12.5 million children are not attending schools, which it says is "an alarming figure". Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa account for 71.2 per cent of all out-of-school children in rural India. "It is absolutely vital that children in urban and rural areas have a reasonable opportunity to benefit from the economic growth of the country," said Mr Ahluwalia. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship programme of the central government to increase elementary school enrollment in villages, is given "top priority" in the Planning Commission for allocation of funds, he added.
