Wither Gujarat girl child enrollment fete Kanya Kelavni? ASER data show state one of the worst performers

By Rajiv Shah
In yet another evidence that the Gujarat government has miserably failed in making any impact in its massively-propagated Kanya Kelavni girl child enrollment drive, the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by the elite non-profit organization Pratham suggests suggests Gujarat does not just lag behind other states but has also failed to register an improvement. While in the age-group 7-10 Gujarat's 1.7 per cent of girls were found to be not attending school as against the all-India average of 2.2 per cent, things clearly turned to worse for higher age-group girls.
In the age-group 11-14, Gujarat's 7.6 per cent of girls were found to be “not in school” as against the all-India average of 4.4 per cent. Further, in the age group 15-16, a whopping 30.2 per cent of girls were “not in school” as against the all-India average of nearly half as much, 17.3 per cent. “Not in school”, according to ASER, includes those children who have never enrolled themselves in schools plus those who have been dropped out.
Worse, instead of improving, the girl child's schooling has actually deteriorated. Remaining one of the worst in India, as reflected in the ASER 2014 report, the ASER report for 2013 in suggested that in the age-group 11-14, 6.6 per cent girls in Gujarat were “not in school, and in the age-group 15-16 29.7 per cent girls were “not in school.” ASER 2014 was released on January 13 this year.
Notably, this has happened despite the fact the Kanya Kelavni melas or fetes are carried out every year for three days by sending thousands of babus, including IAS and other class one officers, senior and junior ministers, to different parts in the rural areas to make enrollment a big success. The campaign began in 2004, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that year.

ASER 2014 has found that Gujarat is, in fact, among worst states in enrolling the girl child. State-wise distribution of “not-in-school” girls in the age-group 11 to 14 that all states except two perform better than Gujarat. The two states are Rajasthan, which failed to send 12.1 per cent of girls and Uttar Pradesh which failed to send 9.2 per cent of girls to school.
The figures for other states are for this age group are – Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) 5.2 per cent, Assam 4.1 per cent, Bihar 5.7 per cent, Chhattisgarh 3 per cent, Haryana 3.3 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 0.5 per cent, Jammu & Kashmir 4.2 per cent, Jharkhand 6.0 per cent, Karnataka 3.5 per cent, Kerala 0.2 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 6.2 per cent, Maharashtra 2.9 per cent, Odisha 4.7 per cent, Punjab 2.8 per cent, Tamil Nadu 1.4 per cent, Uttarkhand 1.7 per cent, and West Bengal 3.6 per cent.
Coming to the age-group 15-16, only one state, Rajasthan, performs worse than Gujarat. As against Gujarat's 30.2 per cent, Rajasthan has a little higher percentage of “not in school” girls – 31.4 per cent.
ASER 2014 figures for other states are -- Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana) 18.0 per cent, Assam 14.4 per cent, Bihar 15.6 per cent, Chhattisgarh 11.6 per cent, Haryana 11.3 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 3.2 per cent, Jammu & Kashmir 11.7 per cent, Jharkhand 17.6 per cent, Karnataka 12.4 per cent, Kerala 0.4 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 23.5 per cent, Maharashtra 9.3 per cent, Odisha 23.8 per cent, Punjab 9.1 per cent, Tamil Nadu 6.8 per cent, Uttarakhand 9.5 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 22.7 per cent, and West Bengal 10.8 per cent.