Mumbai: BMC school enrollments plummeted by 27 per cent in 10 years: Report

While enrollments in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC schools seem to have increased by six per cent from the academic years 201819 to 202122mdashduring which the world was in the grip of the pandemicmdasha 10year trend shows that they have been seeing a continuous dropA report titled State of Municipal Education in Mumbai which was released on Monday by a citybased NGO Praja Foundation reveals that the overall enrollment of students enrolled in BMC schools has declined by 27 per cent in the past 10 years between 201213 and 202122The report which is based on a survey carried out by an NGO and information gathered under the RTI Act states that during the period in question Marathi Hindi and Urdumedium civic schools saw a fall in enrollment by 50 per cent 44 per cent and 30 per cent respectivelyAlso read Mumbai Measles vaccination goes slow with only 5 per cent kids getting dose in 3 daysAt the same time the municipal Englishmedium schools have seen a 77 per cent rise in enrollments in the past 10 yearsOut of the total enrollments in Mumbai schoolsmdashBMC private aided and unaided unrecognised and othersmdashthe proportion of BMC student enrollments declined from 45 per cent in 201213 to 36 per cent in 201819 and then increased to 42 per cent in 202122As per the report BMCrsquos total enrollments decreased by 31 per cent from 434523 in 201213 to 300746 in 201819 which then increased by six per cent from 300746 in 201819 to 318002 in 202122While the civic body has failed to cover up the overall decline of 27 per cent the BMCs rebranding initiative which highlights the six per cent rise garnered huge successBMCrsquos Mumbai Public Schools MPS meanwhile have seen continuous progress enrollments in these schools increased by 92 per cent from 27464 in 201415 to 52662 in 202122 the report revealedMilind Mhaske CEO of Praja Foundation said the trend of increase in enrollment in governmentrun schools in postpandemic years has been seen across the country This also happened in BMCrun schools where BMC registered a six per cent increase in overall enrollment as compared to two years of the pandemic Many people for whom private school education became unaffordable shifted to governmentrun schools and BMC schools in Mumbai The Mumbai civic body should take this transition seriously and get accountability into the systemMhaske added The BMC has a dedicated education committee that monitors the functioning of the education department but currently there is no corporation to hold the administration accountable The upcoming education committee should continue the trend and meet frequently and deliberate more for overall improvement in the BMCrsquos education systemElaborating on the report Nitai Mehta founder and managing trustee of Praja Foundation said The BMC should look at the proportion of students enrolled in different standards and make provisions to provide the necessary infrastructure and resources For instance enrollments in MPS schools increased as these schools have classes from preprimary to 10th This indicates that parents are accessing BMC schools for their childrsquos education and the BMC should take this as an opportunity to further improve its education system318002Total enrollments in civic schools in 202122Reports findings 27 per cent increase in student enrollments in BMCrsquos Englishmedium schools from 79884 in 201819 to 101110 in 202122 Only 40 per cent 18781 out of 46913 of BMC students who enrolled in Class 1 in 201213 continued their education up to Class 10 in 202122 Only 26 per cent 84247 out of 318002 of BMC school students were examined for health checkups in 202122 In FY 202223 BMCrsquos perstudent budget estimate is Rs102143 an increase of 108 per cent from Rs 49126 in FY 201213 BMCrsquos Education Committee meetings increased by 176 per cent from 21 in 201920 to 58 in 202122 but the number of questions asked decreased by 27 per cent from 201920 to 202122