UNESCO-Study-India-Using-Open-School-Data-to-Improve-Transparency-and-Accountability-UDISE-2018
Reliability and Quality of UDISEPlus Data (2024)
The Background
District Information System for Education was initiated by the premiere National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration with support from the Ministry of HRD/Education and UNICEF India in 1994-95 at the time of the launch of the District Primary Education Programme; initially, it was to take care of the need for a primary level of education and had to develop an information system.
Initially, only DPEP states and districts were covered under DISE (18 states and 272 districts), but at the time of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program, coverage of DISE was extended to the entire Country and elementary level of education in 2000-01. 2005-06 was the first year the entire Country was covered under the DISE for the first time, and data on the elementary level of education was collected. In 2012-13, at the request of the Ministry of Education, the coverage of DISE was extended to the entire school education level consisting of Grades I to XII. Using one Data Capture Format (DCF), data from the whole school education was collected for the first time during 2012-13, and since then, DISE has been known as Unified DISE, popularly known as the UDISE.
In 2012-13, UDISE acquired the status of the Official statistics, and all parallel information systems, including the one located in the Ministry of Education and also the All India School Education Survey (AISES) being conducted at that time by the NCERT, were abandoned. Since then, all publications of the Ministry of Education with regard to school education have been exclusively based on a system designed and developed by NIEPA, i.e., Unified-DISE.
NIEPA nurtured DISE/UDISE from 1994 to 2018, and the same was transferred to the Ministry of Education from 2018-19 and was renamed as UDISEPlus. Annual plans are exclusively formulated based on the data generated through the UDISE.
Under the leadership of NIEPA, most of the limitations in the data were taken care of, among which was the drastic reduction in time lag in data, which was the most prominent one. But after it was transferred to the Ministry of Education again, it started increasing. As of October 24, 2024, the latest UDISEPlus data is available for 2021-22. Despite the 2022-23 and 2023-24 data, the Ministry of Education has failed to disseminate the data to the data users.
When DISE/UDISE was located in NIEPA, there was a significant improvement in data quality, but fingers were used to raise questions about the quality and reliability of data, and the data users repeatedly questioned the quality of enrolment data. Various measures, including a five percent random sample checking of data by a third-party independent agency, were significant initiatives, but the same, along with a series of publications initiated by NIEPA, all are discontinued for unknown reasons. Only one publication, the UDISE Booklet, is published online by the Ministry of Education once in two years.
Below, we reproduced a Press Release issued by the Press Information Bureau (March 23, 2023) with regard to the Reliability of UDISEPlus Data & High Dropout Rates without modification.
Clarification Regarding the Reliability of UDISEPlus & High Dropout Rate at Upper Primary & Secondary Levels in Odisha: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Education, Government of India
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Education
23 MAR 2023 6:25PM by PIB Delhi
Clarification regarding the reliability of UDISE+ and high dropout rate at upper primary and secondary levels in Odisha
Based on the media reports, it has come to the notice of the Ministry that the Minister of School and Mass Education, Government of Odisha, made a statement in the assembly denying the high rate of Drop out in Odisha (27.3%) and stating that report of UDISE+ is not reliable and trustworthy.
It is clarified that Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data is not only reliable but the only pan India and most trusted database in school education in the Country. UDISE+ is one of the largest Management Information System initiated by Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, Government of India covering more than 14.89 lakh schools, 95 lakhs teachers and 26.5 crore students.
It is informed that the Head Teacher/ Head Master of the school in all the States compiles the data and it goes through 3 stage validation/ verification process viz., Block/ Cluster level, District level and State level. This data is finally certified by State Project Director (SPD) at the State level. The data once certified by SPD of the respective State is considered as approved by the State. Therefore, data is entered in UDISE+ portal by the respective State itself.
UDISE+ truly represents one Nation one data base in respect of School Education in the Country. UDISE+ is an online portal facility created by DoSEL for record of data related schools, teachers, enrolment, infrastructure etc. in respect of all recognized schools in the Country. In UDISE+ school wise data is captured through Data Capture Format (DCF). Each school has been provided with login ID and password for facilitating online data compilation by respective schools.
According to UDISE+ 2020-21, Odisha has reported a total of 21.42 lakh students in Upper Primary and 13.25 lakh students in Secondary. Similarly, in 2021-22, the same in respect of Upper Primary was 20.72 lakh and 12.46 lakh at Secondary. Therefore, there is a clear decline of enrolment across both levels in Odisha.
As per the data reported by Government of Odisha in UDISE+ portal, the class wise details of enrolment in 2020-21 and 2021-22 are as under:
- In 2020-21, of the total 7.58 lakh students in class 8, only 6.27 lakh students transited to class 9 in 2021-22 showing a net decline of 1.32 lakh students or 17.3%.
- In 2020-21, of the total 6.40 lakh students in class 9, only 6.19 lakh students transited to class 10 in 2021-22 showing a net decline of 0.2 lakh students or 3.1%.
- In 2020-21, of the total 6.86 lakh students in class 10, only 3.43 lakh students transited to class 11 in 2021-22 showing a net decline of 3.42 lakh students or 49.9%.
- In 2020-21, of the total 3.66 lakh students in class 11, only 3.46 lakh students transited to class 12 in 2021-22 showing a net decline of 0.19 lakh students or 5.2%.
Therefore, UDISE+ data clearly reflects that enrolment and students transiting from Class 8 to 9, Class 9 to 10, Class 10 to 11 and Class 11 to 12 have declined indicating a large number of students are dropping out at the transition of Upper Primary to Secondary level and subsequently to Higher Secondary level.
Table for Gender Wise Drop Out rate of India, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh at Upper Primary and Secondary level in Percentage (%)
India/ States |
Upper Primary | Secondary | ||||
Boys | Girls | Total | Boys | Girls |
Total |
|
India | 2.7 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 12.3 | 12.7 |
Odisha | 8.0 | 6.5 | 7.3 | 29.2 | 25.2 | 27.3 |
Uttar Pradesh | 1.3 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 9.7 |
UDISE+ 2021-22 data also shows that Drop Out rate at Upper Primary level in Odisha is 7.3% and at the Secondary level it is 27.3% as against the National Average of 3% and 12.6% respectively. Further, it is to be noted that the dropout rate for girls at upper primary level is 6.5% and secondary level is 25% as against the national average of 3.3% and 12.3% respectively.
It is also informed that as per UDISE+ 2021-22 report, the Drop Out rate of students in Uttar Pradesh at Upper Primary level was 2.9% and at the Secondary level 9.7% respectively.
FAQs on the Reliability and Quality of UDISEPlus Data (2024)
What is UDISEPlus?
Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISEPlus) is a comprehensive management information system initiated by NIEPA (1994 to 2018) and now managed by the Ministry of Education (since 2018) and the government of India. It aims to collect and maintain data related to school education across all recognized schools in India, covering over 14.89 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and 26.5 crore students.
How is UDISEPlus data collected?
Data is compiled by the Head Teacher or Head Master of each school and undergoes a three-stage validation process at the Block/Cluster, District, and State levels before being certified by the State Project Director (SPD). This ensures that the data entered into the UDISEPlus portal is accurate and approved by state authorities.
What measures are in place to ensure data reliability?
UDISEPlus employs a rigorous validation process. Additionally, independent third-party verification was previously conducted but has been discontinued. There are calls for reinstating this independent verification to enhance data quality further.
Why has there been a delay in releasing recent UDISEPlus data?
As of October 24, 2024, the latest available data is for the 2021-22 academic year. The Ministry of Education has not yet disseminated data for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, leading to concerns about transparency and timeliness.
What are the concerns regarding data quality?
While UDISEPlus has been recognized as a reliable database, questions have arisen about the quality of enrolment data. Past initiatives such as random sampling checks have been halted, raising concerns among data users about the accuracy of reported figures.
How does UDISEPlus impact educational planning?
The data collected through UDISEPlus is crucial for formulating annual educational plans and policies. It provides insights into enrollment trends, dropout rates, and infrastructural needs, thereby informing resource allocation and intervention strategies. But as it seems that there is inadequate use of data in formulating district and state annual plans under the Samagra Shiksha.
What are dropout rates according to UDISEPlus?
The UDISEPlus 2021-22 report indicates that Odisha has a dropout rate of 27.3% at the secondary level and 7.3% at the upper primary level. These figures are significantly higher than the national averages of 12.6% and 3%, respectively.
What steps can be taken to improve UDISEPlus data quality?
To enhance data reliability:
- Reinstating independent third-party checks.
- Increasing transparency in data dissemination.
- Ensuring timely updates and publications on educational statistics.
- Adequate use of child-specific data in generating enrolment by category, age and gender, starting 2022-23.
How can stakeholders access UDISEPlus data?
Stakeholders can access UDISEPlus data through its online portal, which requires login credentials provided to each school. Data can be updated or validated as necessary during designated periods for each academic year. However, the lone publication, namely the UDISE Booklet can be downloaded from its official portal which is latest available for the year 2021-22.