New Delhi: Migration of workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the enrollment of students in Delhi’s civic body schools, with 62,000 fewer students have enrolled for the academic year 2020-2021 compared to the previous year, officials said.
While North Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has seen the highest drop with over 50,000, the East MCD recorded around 15,000 fewer admissions this year. South MCD, on the other hand, had enrollments increased by around 7,000.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the enrollment data of the last four years from schools of the three civic bodies — North, South and East — show that though the enrollment has declined every successive year, the drop of 62,406 students this year is the highest.
A total of 6,88,715 students have enrolled in MCD schools this year, compared to last year’s 7,51,121, 7,57,105 in 2018-2019 and 7,83,930 in 2017-18.
This is even though the enrollment drive continued till September this year, unlike the previous years when it ended in August.
The officials in all corporations said that although the enrollment has been decreasing ever since Delhi government schools began admitting students nursery onwards, as parents do not prefer changing the school of their ward. The migration of workers due to COVID-19 pandemic this year has further affected the enrollment, according to them.
There are over 1,600 schools run by corporations across Delhi, from Nursery to Class V. Children mainly from economically weaker families study in these schools. The EDMC has 357 schools, South body has 581 and North has 714.
The data of the three civic bodies show this is the first time in the last five years that enrollment has gone below three lakh in North MCD. The enrollment this year is 2,64,715, dropping by over 50,000 from last year’s 3,18,297.
East MCD has also seen a decline of over 15,000 students, the highest in the last four years. On the other hand, the South body with better infrastructure in its schools has shown a rise in enrollment from last year, with 2,65,000 students being enrolled this year in comparison to last year’s 2,58,208.
Officials say the decline could also be because many children find seats in private schools due to the quota for the economically weaker section in private schools.
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