August 27, 2023

Release of Unified District Information System for Education Plus 2022-23 Data

(Why UDISEPlus 2022-23 Data is delayed?)

 

From the year 2018-19, the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISEPlus 2022-23) is being managed by the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education; before that, the Department of EMIS, NIEPA, New Delhi managed the same, i.e., UDISE. The release of UDISEPlus data for 2022-23, recorded on 30 September 2022, is eagerly awaited.

It is observed that slowly but surely, the time lag in the availability of school education data is again being increased, and many of the recent achievements towards strengthening EMIS in India are fast returning to the old days when there was a wide time lag in data and plans were based on outdated data. For example, the Annual Work Plans for the year 2023-24 are based on 2021-22 data; at one point in time, the Annual Plans were formulated based on the same year UDISE data, the year for which the plans under SSA/Samagra Shiksha were formulated. The main question is when UDISEPLus data for 2022-23 will be released. Even if the same is released now, the data will only be used in formulating the Annual Plan for 2024-25, thus indicating the use of outdated data.

Launching of UDISEPlus  2023-24

Maybe there are valid reasons for 2022-23 data being delayed, one of which may be because of the collection of individual student-wise information on 60+ variables as a part of UDISEPlus 2022-23 and the plan to generate UDISEPlus enrolment tables based on individual student information, given the large number of students in ECCE and Grades I to XII and the lack of computers and internet connectivity, especially in the Government-managed schools, further delayed the entire process of UDISEPlus data collection and the release. The delay could have been averted had there also been a provision to report aggregate enrolment data instead of exclusively based on individual student data, which is around 265 million.

Decline in Enrolment in 2016-17 over 2015-16

Year

  

Primary (Grades I-V)

Upper Primary (Grades VI-VIII)
 

Boys

 Girls Total Boys Girls

Total
2015-16 66873236 62249548 129122784 34720104 32873623 67593727
2016-17 64244759 59563133 123807892 34006115 32033008 66079123
Decline -2628477 -2686415 -5314892 -713989 -840615 -1514604
%Decline -3.93 -4.32 -4.12 -2.06 -2.56 -2.24

Year

 School Education  (Grades I-XII) Elementary  (Grades I-VIII)
Boys Girls Total Boys Girls

Total
2015-16 135142807 125454153 260596960 101593340 95123171 196716511
2016-17 131398214 121710191 253108405 98250874 91596141 189887015
Decline -3744593 -3743962 -7488555 -3342466 -3527030 -6829496
%Decline -2.77 -2.98 -2.87 -3.29 -3.71 -3.47

Source: UDISE 2016-17 Flash Statistics.

NIEPA, on the advice of the Ministry of HRD/Education, also initiated one such exercise during the 2016-17 UDISE data collection through which data was timely collected and disseminated, but the same saw a drastic decline in enrolment which was in the tune of 7.49 million in Grades I to XII; data users at that time thought that since the enrolment is now generated based on individual student records, the same is more reliable than based on reporting of the aggregate enrolment but the initiative of student data collection was discontinued in the following year for unknown reasons but again revamped during the UDISEPlus 2022-23 data collection which is a step in the right direction. Had the student data collection not been discontinued in 2017-18, India would have had a robust online child tracking system by now. Once the 2022-23 data is successfully collected, not only the time lag will reduced to a significant effect but the quality & consistency of data will also improve in the following year.

It is firmly believed that UDISEPlus 2022-23 data may see a drastic decline in enrolment in Grades I to XII, a chunk of which would be in primary and upper primary levels of education. If that happens, it will raise questions about the reliability of UDISEPlus data; eagerly waiting for the 2022-23 data to be released. It is believed that in addition to the aggregate data, the Ministry will also release individual student data as the same will create a new window for researchers and data users to study the data from a different angle, and provision to download data will be provided to users on the UDISEPlus portal.

The decline in enrolment in 2016-17 from the previous level in 2015-16 at all India is presented below, which reveals a massive decline in enrolment over the previous year, i.e., 2015-16. Watching state-specific enrolment in 2022-23 over the previous 2021-22 would be interesting.

Given the significant decline in enrolment, checking and rechecking 2022-23 data in Uttar Pradesh is ongoing. Even though the same was certified online at cluster, block, district, and state levels, the state is now getting the written certification at the lower levels to ascertain that the school data is correct to the extent possible. A good number of Madarasas and unrecognized schools in the state have not provided student-specific enrolment, even though such schools used to provide aggregate data in the previous years. The state has a plan to take such schools from its database.

In Bihar, too, a massive re-checking of 2022-23 data is underway which is likely to be completed by 31st August 2023, and the state plans to remove private unaided schools that have not reported student data.

In Jharkhand, a few higher secondary schools under the government management and colleges having intermediate classes have not reported student details. The 2022-23 data may show a decline in overall enrolment, which may be 5 to 6 percent.

Because of the above, not only is there a fear of a decline in enrolment in 2022-23, but even the number of schools covered under UDISEPlus may also see a decline in a few states over the previous year. It has been observed that from 2017-18 to 2021-22, the coverage of schools under the UDISEPlus saw a significant decline; most of such schools were run by the Department of Education. However, details of a smaller number of school coverage are not available in the public domain.

However, states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal etc., and other such states who have already developed and maintained Student Database Information System prior to 2022-23 may see consistent enrolment in 2022-23; there are at least 12 such states who developed and maintained their portals for data collection and submit UDISEPlus data through API or other such provisions.

Based on the UDISEPlus data, the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education could bring out only one publication, i.e., UDISEPlus Booklet one each for the years 2018-19 to 2021-22 but it has discontinued all other publications used to be brought out by NIEPA based on one year’s data annually during the period 2005-06 to 2017-18. It is hoped that the MoSE&L will revamp and initiate bringing out publications to start with 2022-23 data. Following is the list of past annual publications based on UDISE data:

  • Elementary Education in Rural India: Analytical Tables
  • Elementary Education in Urban India: Analytical Tables
  • Elementary Education in India: Where do we stand?, District Report Cards, Volume I & Volume II
  • Elementary Education in India: Where do we stand? State Report Cards
  • Elementary Education in India: Thematic Maps
  • Elementary Education in India: Graphic Presentation
  • Elementary Education in India: Progress towards UEE, Analytical Tables
  • Elementary Education in India: Trends, 2005-06 to 2015-16
  • Secondary Education in India: Progress towards UEE: U-DISE Flash Statistics
  • Secondary Education in India: U-DISE Flash Statistics
  • Secondary Education in India: Thematic Maps
  • Secondary Education in India: Graphic Presentation
  • Secondary Education in India: Where do we stand? State Report Cards
  • U-DISE School Education in India

The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) proposed restructuring of the existing school level as follows:

  • Foundational stage of school education (3 years of Pre-primary education including Grades 1 and 2 with corresponding age groups 3+ to 7+ years)
  • The Preparatory phase consists of 3 years, i.e., Grades 3, 4 and 5
  • Middle school education of 3 years (Grades 6, 7, and 8); and
  • The Secondary education phase of 4 years consists of Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. The corresponding clientele age groups of these phases would be Phase I (3+ to 7+ years), Phase II (8+ to 10+ years), Phase III (11+ to 13+ years), and Phase IV (14+ to 17+ years).

However, the UDISEPlus Booklet still presents indicators per the previous levels; the Department of School Education & Literacy must also present indicators per the restructured phases of school education.

Revamping SDMIS in-sync with UDISE+ 2022-23

Data Capture Format Student Database Management in sync with UDISE: 2016-17, NIEPA

Is Decline in School Enrolment in India a Cause of Concern?

Is India moving towards privatisation of school education?: A Study based on UDISE-plus 2019-20 data