Student strength in schools down by 2.49 lakh

21,225 fewer students in Class 1 over last year

: The State government's applecart on admissions to Class 1 was upset on Friday when instead of the expected 3.3 lakh students, only 3.02 lakh were found to have enrolled in government, aided and unaided schools in Kerala.

While in 2011-12, 3,23,372 students had enrolled in Class 1, this year's figure was 3,02,147; a fall of 21,225 students. The aided school sector — which faced a reduction of 18,498 students — was the biggest loser on this front. While government schools faced a reduction of 2,542 students when compared to 2011-12, in unaided schools, the reduction was only 185. The figures were compiled as of June 14, 2012.

State-syllabus schools

The overall student strength in the State-syllabus schools also came down sharply; there were 2,49,097 students less in these schools when compared to last year's figure of 42,35,285 students. Here too the aided sector was the biggest loser with a student fall of 1.7 lakh when compared to last year. As per the entries in the register, the roll strength in aided schools this year was 24,10,719. The number of students in unaided schools in the State went up by 2,051 this year.

Schools in Thiruvananthapuram district lost the maximum number of students this year, both in terms of admissions to Class 1 and in terms of the overall student strength. While there was a reduction of 3,372 students who enrolled in Class 1 this year compared to 2011-12, the fall in the overall student strength in the district was 36,397.

There was a reduction of 3,315 students in Class 1 in Thrissur district and 2,753, in Kollam. Only Wayanad saw an increase of 57 students in Class 1. In terms of overall student strength, Kollam too lost big time with a reduction of 35,258 students when compared to 2011-12. Thrissur lost 28,588 students and Palakkad, 21,739.

Government flayed

Both the Opposition Kerala School Teachers Association and the Congress-affiliated Government School Teachers Union were quick to blame the government's “kid glove approach” to the CBSE schools in the State for the falling numbers in State syllabus schools.

KSTA general secretary Shajahan told The Hindu that the indiscriminate handing out of NOCs to CBSE schools had clearly stymied the growth of schools in the public sector. “The confusion generated over the age of admissions to Class 1, the ambiguity generated over the formation of cluster of schools within which there is no need for a TC… all this created anxiety in the minds of parents who consequently kept their children away from public sector schools,” he argued.

GSTU State president J. Sasi pointed out that the aided schools faced a sharp fall in student numbers despite many such schools seeking to lure students away from government schools by using fair means and foul.

Court verdict

“If the government does not go in appeal against the latest court verdict on conditions for granting NOC to CBSE schools, the public sector's credibility would surely nosedive. Then the people would suspect a collusion between the government and the national syllabus schools,” he added.