The loss of Uttarakhand Vidhyalayi Shiksha Parishad (UVSP), popularly called Uttarakhand Board, has become a gain for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). On one hand, the Ramnagar- based UVSP is consistently losing students while  the comparatively new- Dehradun region – is, on the other hand, showing steady increase in  the student enrolment.

The data of the Uttarakhand board suggest that while 143915 students had enrolled for its class XII examination in 2015 the number dropped to 135650 in 2016 and in 2017, the enrolment further slipped to 133417.

Last year, 132281 students were enrolled for class XII examination and data released by board this year indicate that the drastic reduction of over 8000 students has occurred with only 124183 enrolment.

In stark contrast, the CBSE Dehradun region which consists of all 13 districts of Uttarakhand and 15 districts of western Uttar Pradesh, 125311 students have been enrolled for class XII examination this year. Last year, the student enrolment in class XII in CBSE Dehradun was 119364.  A similar trend is noticed in class X enrolment of both these boards.

The experts list a variety of factors responsible for this decline in the interest of students in the state board. They cite the lack of infrastructure in the government schools, politicisation of teaching community, migration from villages and lack of discipline in the government schools as reasons for this loss in the number of students. Many schools, located in the far- flung and hard to access areas, face acute shortage of teaching staff.

The teachers who are posted in these schools take frequent leaves and lobby for their transfers to the places of their choices. The school building and other facilities in the government schools are not improving even though the huge budget of state education department keeps on increasing every year.

To compound thing further for Uttarakhand Board, more and more private schools are coming up in the rural areas. These schools are opting for a more popular board like CBSE and display an affiliation granted by central board as USP to attract students.

“The private schools seldom opt for the state board as they find more liberty and convenience with the central boards.  Most of the private schools opt for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and ICSE board due to the better curriculum and textbooks,’’ said a retired government school principal, V S Rawat.