'Decline in birth rate led to drop in no. of students in primary schools'

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The drop in birth rate in the state -- from 16.63% in 2006 to 12.77% in 2020 -- has had an impact on the total number of students enrolled in the primary section (Classes 1 to IV) in state syllabus schools, the government informed the assembly on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a set of questions by MLAs K J Maxi , D K Murali, P T A Rahim and G Stephen, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said the number of students in the primary section, that was 14.3 lakh in 2011-12, dropped to 11.8 lakh in 2025-26.

However, the sudden rise in the number of students in primary section to 14.18 lakh in 2021-22 was on account of migration of other syllabus students to the state syllabus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister said.

“From 2016-17, it can be seen that there has been a sequential growth in the number of students in Classes I to IV. However during Coivd, the migration of a large number of central syllabus students to the state syllabus was responsible for the huge rise in student numbers in 2021-22,” the minister said.

The reply, backed with statistics, stated that the drop in birth rate has naturally impacted enrolment in schools, “It should be noted that students who were in Classes I to III in the previous year are presently studying in Classes II to IV. Compared to the previous year, it can be seen that there has been an increase in new admissions,” the minister said.

To a query on the dropout of students after SSLC, the minister said the main reason for it was the migration of students to vocational and technical courses, that have Class X as the basic qualification, after enrolling in Plus I.

He said another reason was the transfer of parents to other locations. “However, the number of students enrolled in Plus I course has seen an increase over the past 10 years,” Sivankutty said.