New Delhi: Delhi government’s Economic Survey 2017-18, according to experts, seems to suggest that when it comes to picking between son and daughter for sending to a private school, parents generally choose the male child.The survey, released on Monday, found that during 2016-17, a total 6.28 lakh girl students were enrolled in private schools. The same figure for boys has stood at 9.37 lakhs. According to the survey, the same data for government school differs drastically, registering enrolment of 8.10 lakh girls and 7.18 lakh boys, Indian Express reported.Among other highlights of the survey, which was tabled in the assembly yesterday, were an increase in the number of schools, student enrolment as well as student-teacher ratio. There has also been an increase in education expenditure. Investment in the budget’s education sector has also seen an upward graph, moving up from Rs 5,491 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 11,300 in 2017-18.As per the survey, education ranking as the “highest priority sector for the government,” got the biggest share of the 2017-18 budget – 23.54%.The number of private schools has fallen from 2,113 to 1,715, while the number of government schools has gone up from 1,011 to 1,017. In these 1,1715 private schools, the total number of boys enrolled was 9.37 lakh, compared to 6.28 lakh girls in 2016-17. A similar trend was observed in 2015-16 as well.“This is the thing with an urban setting – there are more children going to private schools. However, the national ratio of government to private schools stands at 60:40… In some places, it is even 70:30,” Anita Rampal, a professor at Delhi University’s department of education, told Indian Express.According to Rampal, while the gap between boy and girl students enrolled in private schools has been a general trend in Haryana, Rajasthan, “We didn’t know it was the same in Delhi. Even in a family, it is generally boys who are given preference.”There has also been an increase in the number of higher education institutes from 209 in 2012-13 to 219 in 2017-18 and the number of technical institutes in the national capital is reported to have gone up from 99 in 2012-13 to 104 in 2016-17.Similarly, the number of students in technical institutes has sharply increased to 34,168 in 2016-17 from 23,581 in 2012-13.The percentage of the Gross State Domestic Product of Delhi spent on education was the highest at 1.65 in 2017-18, the survey said.The per student-per annum expenditure incurred by the government on education increased from Rs. 29,641 in 2012-13 to Rs. 54,910 in 2016-17, is likely to increase to Rs.61,622 in 2017-18, the survey added.(With PTI inputs)
