Assam: 4.54 lakh ‘ghost students’ go missing on Siksha Setu portal

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The data on the number of school students in Assam varies from one portal to another, leading one to ask: which is the correct one, and does Gunotsav take the issue of 'ghost' or missing students into consideration?

According to the data available on the Government of India's student database management system, the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), the number of students enrolled from pre-primary to Class XII in government or provincialized schools in 2021-22 is shown as 51,37,047.

However, the state's Siksha Setu portal pegs the figure of AI-enrolled students at 46,82,556. There is a shortfall of 4,54,491 students, or 8.85% of the figure in UDISE+.

Another figure was thrown up by the SDMIS 2022-23, according to which the number of enrolled students as of June 10, 2023 was 50,11,634. The difference with the UDISE+ figure is 1,25,413 or 2.44%.

The Siksha Setu portal also shows that around 30 lakh students attend school regularly, while around 19 lakh students are always absent.

This begs the question as to whether the absentees are 'ghost students' or inflated number of students.

There have been allegations that venture schools or non-provincialized schools inflate the number of students enrolled in their schools to derive the benefits offered by the government.

Moreover, the annual Gunotsav survey is carried out by the state government, but the question remains whether the issue of the 'ghost students' is addressed during the exercise.

Also Read: Ranoj Pegu Reacts to Teachers' Non-cooperation on the Siksha Setu App

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