Gujarat's 24.9% girls in age group 14-16 out of school, double all-India average: Pratham report

School education in Gujarat

By A Representative
In a stark revelation, the Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), brought out by the high-profile NGO Pratham, has said that Gujarat's 24.9% of girls in the age group 15-16 are out of school, which is the highest among all Indian states with the sole exception exception of Madhya Pradesh (26.6%).
Further, the report shows that the percentage of out of school children in this age group is double the all-India average (13.5%).
Suggesting that most so-called Bimaru states perform better on this score, the data in the report show that, as against Gujarat's 24.9% out of school of girls in the age group 15-16, Uttar Pradesh has 22.2%, Chhattisgarh 21.2%, Rajasthan 20.1%, Jharkhand 11.2%, and Bihar 9.8%. The best performing state is Kerala, with 0.6% out of school girls, followed by 2% Himachal Pradesh.
The report states, "In 2006, the all India proportion of girls in the age group 11 to 14 who were out of school stood at 10.3%. In that year, 9 major states had out of school figures for girls (age 11-14) above 10%. In 2018, the overall proportion of girls in the 11 to 14 age group out of school has fallen to 4.1%. This figure is more than 5% in only 4 states." In Gujarat, there were 3.6% out of school children in this age group.

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