BJP leader and former union minister Subhash Sarkar on Tuesday said West Bengal has the highest number of school dropouts in the country and criticized the state government over the jobs issue.
Sarkar said that while the school dropout rate in Birbhum is 17.2 percent, it is 16.9 percent in Murshidabad, and 16.1 percent in South 24 Parganas. According to him, the school dropout rate is more than 12 percent in all districts.
“No one keeps a record of what happens to students who drop out of school. There are 70 lakh workers from our country, and with unemployment, no one knows where these students are going,” Sarkar said.
Criticizing the TMC government, Sarkar said there has never been any development for the minorities in the state. “Murshidabad has a large minority population. About 17 percent. Where do they go after school? Is there an organization that removes them. This must be looked at by the state administration and the Ministry of Education,” he said.
He pointed out that most of the universities in the state are private and have empty seats. “But it is ignored. The TMC government is not interested in improving the education system,” said Sarkar.
A recent report by the Union Education Ministry said that the percentage of high school dropouts in West Bengal for the academic year 2023-24 is 18.75 percent.
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