Are there any differences between Enrolment, Headcount and Average Attendance of students?

(as in %) Head count Attendance (as in %) Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total

Government 1830 1546 3376 (N=24) 51.0 57.9 54.1 52.0 55.2 52.8 Private 954 749 1748 (N=6) 94.9 95.1 92.5 80.0 93.2 83.6 Total 2784 (N=30) 2340 (N=30) 5124 (N=30) 66.0 68.7 67.2 61.6 65.4 63.3 Source: Author's Survey 2011/12

A huge difference exists in the enrolment, average attendance and head count attendance between government and private schools. There could be several reasons for this. Most possibly, due to their circumstances, students have enrolled but failed to attend during the normal school day; the teachers may not have taken the attendance register accurately or there may be poor and inconsistent record– keeping systems in the school; hence the recorded attendance rate is not very reliable and considerably lower in government schools.

Looking at it from the gender perspective, the attendance of girls was higher than that of boys in both private and government schools. The headcount of girls who were studying in private schools was almost 93%, whereas in government schools only 54% of girls were attending. This shows that there was large variation in attendance between the girls attending private and government schools.

5.6.3 Are there any differences between Enrolment, Headcount and Average Attendance of students?

The Table 5-15 shows enrolment, headcount and average attendance of the students by types of school by eco-belts (Mountain, Hill, Terai and Kathmandu Valley). The mountain belts recorded significantly lower attendance with only 33.6%

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students in school on the school visit day. It is interesting to note that there was a huge difference between the school recorded attendance (87.7%) on their register compared to the actual head count of 33.6% in this region. The researcher asked the head teacher about the low attendance to which he responded that due to a local festival, a large number of students had not attended school.

The head count attendance of boys was found to be better than girls in each of the eco-belts. However the distribution of boys and girls attendance across the four eco-belts was statistically significantly different (p = 0.047).

Table 5-15 Enrolment, Headcount and average attendance numbers by Eco-belt

Eco-belts Total Enrolment

Average Attendance (as in %) Headcount Attendance (as in %) Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total

Mountain 255 233 488 90.6 84.5 87.7 33.7 33.5 33.6 Hills 985 905 1890 64.5 62.5 63.6 63.4 67.5 65.3 Terai 1230 845 2075 60.7 70.9 64.8 64.5 75 68.8 KTM Valley 314 357 671 88.2 68.6 70.1 67.2 58.3 62.4 Total 2784 (N=30) 2340 (N=30) 5124 (N=30) 66.0 68.7 67.2 67.2 65.4 63.3 Source: Author's Survey 2011/12

There is substantial variance between the eco-belts. The headcount attendance for the Hilly region, the Terai region and the Kathmandu Valley have almost identical attendance, whereas in the mountain region there is substantially lower attendance.

Similarly Table 5-16 shows enrolment, headcount and average attendance of the students by types of school by ethnicity (Mainstram, Janajati and Dalits). Looking at the figures from an ethnicity point of view, it is noteworthy that the head count and average attendance percentage of Janajati was the highest amongst the three ethnic groups of students. There was a difference of 6 percentage points in headcount and average attendance for mainstream students in comparison with non-mainstream (Dalit and Janajati) students, where only a 3 percentage point difference existed.

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In both Grades II and IV, over 75% of the sampled school children followed the Hindu religion and the remaining 25% followed other religions (Buddhist, Christian and others). The attendance data show that substantial differences existed between these two groups. Moreover, in both grades the non-Hindu (Janajatis') children were far less likely to have been present during the school visit day.

Table 5-16 Enrolment, Headcount and average attendance numbers by Ethnicity

Group of ethnicity

Total Enrolment _Attendance Average (as in %)

Headcount Attendance (as in %) Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total

Mainstream 1792 1376 3168 63.1 67.4 64.9 56.36 62.7 59.1 Janajati 620 572 1192 75.8 74.7 75.0 75.48 75.5 75.5 Dalit 372 392 764 64.0 64.3 64.1 63.44 60.2 61.8 Total 2784 (N=30) 2340 (N=30) 5124 (N=30) 66.0 68.7 67.2 61.57 65.4 63.3

Source: Author Survey 2011/12

Children from the mainstream represent the largest group in the sample and they were most likely to be in school during the school visit day, followed closely by children from disadvantaged and ethnic minority groups namely Dalit and Janajati. Interestingly, on the school visit day, a much smaller proportion of girls from ethnic minority (Dalit) backgrounds were present, irrespective of the geography of the region.

The headcount figures for the mainstream [non Dalit or Janajati] students were lower than the Janajati as were the average attendance figures. Grouping these data according to gender, mainstream boys show a very low headcount of just 56.3%, with an average attendance of 63% compared with mainstream girls (62.7%, and 67.5% respectively). Also the mainstream boys’ headcount figure is almost 20% below the Janjati boys’ headcount score of 75.5%.

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The head count attendance of boys was found to be higher than girls in each ethnic group. However the distribution of boys and girls attendance across the three ethnic groups was not found to be statistically significant (p = 0.264) (For details please see the Annex).

Overall, the patterns of attendance across the 30 schools sampled in this study demonstrated that about 63.3% of all children enrolled in primary level (Grades I-V) were attending during the unannounced school visit days by the research team. It is noteworthy that, regardless of the districts, schools, or day of visit, school registers' invariably showed the attendance of more children than were actually present. There could be several reasons for this; many parents and other stakeholders shared with our team that the majority of schools wanted to report a high number of students in attendance in order to obtain additional money from the District Education Office (DEO).

Higher numbers of days of attendance and regular attendance will lead to more opportunities for the children to learn. Similarly, the indicators of internal efficiency can be improved if students attend regularly. Higher attendance rates can lead to higher promotion rates and reduce grade repetition and dropout rates.

Enrolment and attendance data including from the survey for the thesis can be summarized as follows:

 There were lower attendance rates in government schools compared to enrolment figures, confirmed by independent headcounts on the day of the researcher's unannounced visit.

 There was a large gap between the government school headcount attendance [52.8%] and private school headcount attendance [83.6%].

 There was a large number of potential students who were not taking the opportunity to learn offered by high access/enrolment figures.

141 5.6.4 Summary and conclusion

Government statistics in Nepal revealed that enrolment in primary education, in terms of absolute number and annual growth rate, has improved substantially. This scenario correlates with the NLSS (I,II) finding that over an eight-year period (1996 -2004) Nepal observed increased access to primary education (Central Bureau of Statistics, (CBS, 2004). Furthermore, it also demonstrates that during the same period, physical access to primary school, that is, households that have access to the nearest primary school within thirty minutes walking distance, also improved from 88% in 1995/96 to 91% in 2003/04 to 95% in 2010/11.

At the national level, the Janajatis accounted for 40% of the total enrolment figures at primary school level. Out of total enrolment, the proportion rate of Dalit children enrolled in the primary school accounted for only 22% (their proportion of the population is 12% on the national population). Although the national average showed improvement in the enrolment rate of Dalit and Janajati children, it is still very low in different geographic areas and pockets. The situation for Janajati children appears to be better than that of the Dalits, but enrolment is still low compared to the national average. Poverty among Dalits and Janajatis is considerably higher than that of other social groups. This seems to indicate that there is a positive relationship between poverty and education.

Analyzing the above data at national, regional and district levels, leads to the conclusion that enrolment rates are of enormous concern for planners in terms of access, of meaningful participation and quality of education. There are huge enrolment fluctuations, specifically at the intra-district and the school level in primary level education. These disparities are emphasized within deprived social groups including girls, Dalits, and Janjatis.

These variations persist at the geographic eco-belt, district and community level, in some areas where disadvantaged and ethnic minorities live. These data further suggest that enrolment rates are not equitable and inclusive. This clearly indicates that even with the current education policies in place, Nepal may not achieve the EFA targets by 2015 in terms of equity and inclusion.

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