32.6 per cent of 18-year-olds in rural India are not in school while only 3.9 percent of 14-year-olds are not enrolled for formal education, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 ‘Beyond Basics’ ASER 2023 ‘Beyond Basics’ says. The data reveals massive dropout rates between the ages 14-18 in rural India.

The main reason given by 17-18-year-olds for discontinuing education was “Lack of Interest”, “Financial Constraints” was next. 20.3 percent of girls said that they had to drop out due to “Family Constraints”.

The survey also shows that overall, 86.8 per cent of youths in the ages 14-18 are enrolled in an educational institution. There are small gender gaps in enrollment, but notable differences are visible by age, it says.

Among those in school, 55.7 per cent have opted for Arts/Humanities stream. Only 5-6 per cent of the surveyed youth are taking vocational training or other related courses, ASER 2023 informs.

Also, 40.3 per cent males report doing work other than household work for at least 15 days during the preceding month.

The ASER 2023 survey was conducted in 28 districts across 26 states, reaching a total of 34,745 youth in the age group 14-18 years.