President Droupadi Murmu stated today, Wednesday, January 30 that the country's dropout rate has decreased as a result of government initiatives, and the number of girls enrolled in higher education has gone up.

Speaking to a joint session of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session, she stated that enrollment for students from Scheduled Caste (SC) category had increased by almost 44 per cent, for students from Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, by more than 65 per cent, and for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) category by more than 44 per cent, PTI reports.

"The dropout rate in the country has reduced due to the efforts of my government. The enrollment of girls in higher education has increased. Enrollment of Scheduled Caste students has increased by about 44 per cent, that of Scheduled Tribe students by more than 65 per cent and that of OBC by more than 44 per cent," Murmu said.

Education of children in families having “pucca” houses has also improved and has resulted in a decline in the dropout rates, she notes.

President Murmu added that the government is continuously taking new initiatives for the education and skill development of India's youth.

“For this, a new National Education Policy was framed and is being implemented rapidly. In the National Education Policy, emphasis has been laid on education in mother tongue and Indian languages. Teaching of subjects like engineering, medical, law has been started in Indian languages," the president said.

"To provide quality education to school students, my government is working on more than 14,000 PM Shri Vidyalayas. Out of these, more than 6,000 schools have started functioning," she added.