Thiruvananthapuram: The Department of General Education in Kerala has dismissed various analyses regarding the decline in the number of students in government schools, terming them factually incorrect.
Education Minister V Sivankutty stated that while there has been a fall in enrolments for Class 1, this trend reflects the overall decline in Kerala's population. Notably, there has been an increase in students joining Classes 2 to 10 in government schools.
This clarification follows a request from the State Child Rights Commission for a report on the declining student numbers in state-run schools, despite significant infrastructure development.
"The students who joined Class 1 this year were born in 2019. While the state reported 5.5 lakh births in 2009, this number fell to 4.8 lakh in 2019. Over ten years, the annual number of students has declined by 78,000, which naturally affects Class 1 enrolments," the Minister explained.
He further highlighted that while 4.03 lakh students completed their SSLC last March, only 2.5 lakh children enrolled in Class 1 this year.
"Not all children born in Kerala may study here, and conversely, children from other states are studying in Kerala. In the previous academic year, 30.02 lakh students were enrolled in Classes 1 to 9. However, this academic year, there are 30.37 lakh students in Classes 2 to 10, suggesting that 35,000 additional students have joined these grades," he pointed out.