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10.29 However, ASER (Rural) report also found that during pandemic, children (age 6-14
years) ‘not currently enrolled in schools’ increased from 2.5 percent in 2018 to 4.6 percent in
2021 . The enrolment decline was relatively large among the younger age group (age 7-10
13
year); decline of enrolment for younger boys was higher than girls. The drop in enrolment
happened in 2020, although it has remained stable in 2021. To identify out of school children,
their mainstreaming, and resource sharing, Government shared COVID-19 action plan with
States and UTs outlining the role of local bodies, formation of nodal group at village/town level,
conducting door-to-door/helpdesk-based/app-based survey.

10.30 ASER report also found that during pandemic, children in rural areas have moved out of
private to government schools in all three age groups (Table 3). Possible reasons suggested for
the shift are: shut down of low-cost private schools , financial distress of parents, free facilities
14
in government schools, and families migrating back to villages . Disproportionately high fee in
15
private schools could also be stimulating this shift. If the trend holds, public schools need to be
equipped with additional support, in terms of teacher-pupil ratio, classroom space, and teaching/
learning materials, to absorb students migrating from private schools and from urban to rural
areas. In July 2020, government has issued guidelines for main streaming of children of migrant
labourers, allowing for their smooth admissions into schools without asking for any documents
other than identity.

Table 3: Children enrolled in schools by age group and school type in Rural areas (in percent)
Age Annual Status of Education Report 2018 Annual Status of Education Report 2021
(years)
Govt. Private Others Not Govt. Private Others Not
Enrolled Enrolled
6-14 All 64.3 32.5 0.7 2.5 70.3 24.4 0.7 4.6
7-10 All 64.4 33.5 0.7 1.4 70.3 24.8 0.6 4.4

7-10 Boys 60.6 37.4 0.7 1.4 67.9 26.9 0.5 4.7
7-10 Girls 68.4 29.5 0.7 1.4 72.8 22.3 0.7 4.1
11-14 All 64.1 32 0.8 3.2 70.5 24.5 0.8 4.1

11-14 Boys 60.5 35.9 0.7 2.9 67.5 27.3 0.9 4.3
11-14 Girls 67.6 28 0.8 3.6 73.9 21.5 0.7 3.9

15-16 All 57.4 29.9 0.6 12.1 67.4 25.2 0.9 6.6
15-16 Boys 55.9 32.2 0.5 11.5 66.7 26.3 0.9 6.1

15-16 Girls 58.9 27.8 0.7 12.6 68.1 24 0.8 7.1

Source: Annual Status of Education Report 2021 (Non-government source)
Note: ‘Other’ includes children going to Madarsa and Education Guaranteed Schemes, ‘Not enrolled’ includes
children who never enrolled or are not currently enrolled.

13 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2021 studied 76,706 households and reached 75,234 children (age 5-16) in all rural districts of India
during September and October 2021. The survey was also conducted during September 2020.
14 Alam Andaleeb and Priyamvada Tiwari (2021), “Implications of COVID-19 for Low-cost Private Schools”, UNICEF: https://www.unicef.org/
globalinsight/reports/implications-COVID-19-low-cost-private-schools
15 Banerji Rukmini & Wadhwa Wilima (2021), “The COVID effect: Changing patterns in public and private inputs into schooling in rural India”,
ASER 2021