Dalit Students declining in govt schools

District Education Office Udayapur has revealed that the number of Dalit students in government schools in the district has declined.

According to DEO, 400 students of the community dropped out of school this fiscal. Research has attributed the significant decline in the numbers of Dalit students to lack of effective programmes targeting children of that community.

Though various government and nongovernmental  organizations have launched programmes  targeting Dalit and have spent millions , they have failed to be effective , claimed stakeholders.

As many as 11,470 Dalit students were studying in community schools last year. The numbers has come down to 11,150 this session. “That’s a decresase by 320 compared to last years,” said statistics officer Devi Parajuli. Lack   of effective enrollment programme might be an attributed to the declining number of students as also the growing charm of private and boarding schools, she said.

The total of Dalit students from grade one to eight last year was 10,230 whereas the number is 9,856 this year. The number of students in grades nine and ten has been depleted by 84 this year.

Similarly, it has been said that the numbers of students in various higher secondary schools of the district has also been declining.

District Education Office Hari Prasad Osti, said not only was the number of Dalit students declining, but overall, the number of students had dropped last years. “This might be because of the attribution of private and boarding schools,” Osti said.