Ensuring adolescents in Uttar Pradesh stay---and learn---in school

The Government of India has invested in improving education through two key programmes, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyanestablished in 2001 for elementary education (class 1-8) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan initiated in 2009 for universal access to, and retention in, secondary education. National...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2017
Main Authors: Desai, Sapna, Pandey, Neelanjana
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Children & youth/Families & family life
Education
Government
Population Council
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Government of India has invested in improving education through two key programmes, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyanestablished in 2001 for elementary education (class 1-8) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan initiated in 2009 for universal access to, and retention in, secondary education. National statistics indicate that educational attainment levels have increased, and the proportion of children who has never been to school has delined. 1 In Uttar Pradesh, the Population Council found high levels of enrolment amongst younger adolescents, with limited gender disparity: 91 percent of boys and 86 percent of girls in ages 10-14 were enrolled in school.2 Retention beyond elementary school, however, was low: unmarried girls and boys typically only stayed in school for nine years, and married girls for eight years. Further, learning outcomes-literacy and numeracy---were poor, bringing the quality of education inputs into question. This policy brief focuses on two challenges to preparing Uttar Pradesh's adolescents for the future: (1) universal enrolment and retention in secondary school; and (2) improving learning outcomes.