How Using Engaging Education Methods can Address Dropout Rates in Rural Schools
According to 2021 data, 65 per cent of the population in India lives in rural areas.
Out of this population, around 3.22 crore kids aged 6-17 are out of school.
Due to being in rural areas, 65 per cent of the population is regularly overlooked in spheres of development, including education. This arises due to remoteness, lack of accessible infrastructure, unfavourable belief systems among various other reasons.
Government institutions at every level have recognised this as a big barrier in the country's progress. To tackle them they launched initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (currently known as Samagra Shiksha) and the Right to Education Act. It was recorded that the numbers created by these initiatives were also good. India moved closer to the goal of near-universal enrolment in elementary schools (Grade 1 to Grade 8). But as we move up the grades, a huge challenge presents itself. The Gross Enrolment Ratio for Grades 6-8 stood at a high 90.9 per cent. When looking at Grades 9-10, the number fell to 79.3 per cent. For Grades 11-12, it fell even lower to just 56.5 per cent. This reflected how the majority of dropouts happened after Grade 5 and Grade 8.
The first step in addressing this issue is identifying the barriers presented in the specific area and tackling them accordingly. The second step of action would be to improve the state of education. The quality of education being less than optimal can be a significant contributor to why parents and guardians of children don't see it as an investment into the future and discontinue their children’s schooling or pay little attention to it.
This is also the cause we have heavily associated ourselves with. At Sampark Foundation, we are trying to bring education to every community across India. To ensure zero dropouts also happens to be on the local governing body's activity checklist, according to government reports. Hence, we also involve the state governments to make community-centric movements that will yield the power of transformation for a long time.
Transforming Education with Innovative Tools
At the grassroots level, our approach includes extensive teacher training, dispatching volunteers to assist understaffed schools and six digital tools based on audio or audio visual systems to create smart classrooms. It can engage the students to learn complex concepts with relative ease compared to traditional teaching aids. They include songs, videos, lesson plans, and question banks to make subjects like English, Math and Science easy for teachers to teach and more straightforward for students to understand.
As students make consistent progress, parents often also find themselves more interested in their school life. Our reports suggest that there has been a 40 per cent rise in attendance among parents at school meetings, with 60 per cent feeling more aware of their child's academic achievements. This creates an overall environment that encourages educational progress. With these changes in the environment, the schools that implemented our teach-easy pedagogy showed a 16 per cent increase in children's attendance.
Let's Build the Future of Education Together
As our mission grows, we are able to create a more substantial impact. Currently, standing at 1.5 crore rural children, we are hoping to include every child who needs quality education because they deserve it just like their other counterparts. But this is a long mission, and we cannot do it alone. Hence, we would like to extend an opportunity to join the Sampark Foundation family by volunteering with us.
Reach out today for more details!