Jaipur: With Rajasthan recording growth in enrolment in govt schools for the first time in five years, the state education department Friday said that girls have outnumbered boys this year. The state govt schools now have 1,143 girls per 1,000 boys.As per official records, 53.3% of enrolment in govt schools are girls this year, while 46.7% of students are boys. The education department has recorded a total enrolment of almost 73 lakh this year.“Around 4.86 lakh more girls have been enrolled in govt schools this year, which makes it roughly 1,143 girls per 1,000 boys in govt schools,” said Rajesh Yadav, additional chief secretary for school education.The state now has 34,06,486 boys and 38,92,355 girls enrolled in govt schools. It has witnessed a total increase of 48,358 in enrolment this year compared to last year.This year, districts in tribal belts like Banswara (11,939), Udaipur (9,448), Jalore (5,485), Sirohi (4,295) and Barmer (5,937) in western Rajasthan have recorded the highest enrolment in the state.Districts like Ajmer (2,915), Alwar (492), Churu (259), Dausa (3,534), Didwana-Kuchaman (1,320), Sriganganagar (1,974), Jaipur (1,618), Jodhpur (3,967), Kotputli-Behror (1,639), Nagaur (134), Phalodi (398), Sikar (4,064) and Tonk (1,961) recorded a dip in enrolment this year compared to last year.The education secretary has directed all districts to focus on reducing dropout rates, bringing every child deprived of education into the mainstream, and ensuring the identification of out-of-school children.With an increase in enrolment, all district officials have been instructed that special attention be paid to student retention at the elementary level. The education department has also instructed district-level officials to deploy surplus teachers in schools that lack teachers, so that classroom education continues unaffected.
