Since 2001, India has brought record numbers of children into elementary school. Very few countries in the world can parallel this impressive performance:
Nearly 20 million children have been brought into elementary school: The program has brought more girls, children from disadvantaged groups, as well as children with special needs into school; many of these children are first generation learners.Over 98 percent of the children now have access to a primary school within 1 km of their home.
Gender and social gaps have reduced. There are now 96 girls for every 100 boys in primary school compared to just 90 in the early years of the decade. The enrollment of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) children now better reflects their share in the general population in the relevant age group with SCs constituting 21 percent and STs 11 percent of the total enrollment. Of a total of 2.5 million children identified with disabilities, 2.18 million of these had been enrolled in elementary school by 2006.
Only 6 districts have more than 50,000 children out-of-school. This is down from 48 such districts in 2004. The southern states, the states on the east and west coasts, the Himalayan states, and the northeastern states—except for Assam and Nagaland—are now either approaching universal primary enrollment or have already achieved it.
Drop out rates have reduced. Although retaining first generation learners in school is a major challenge as there is always the danger of them giving up altogether and dropping out, drop out rates have fallen from 10 percent in 2004 to less than 8 percent in 2007.
More children are being retained in school. More children are now moving from primary to upper primary school. The transition rate has risen from 75 percent in 2002 to some 84 percent in 2007.
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