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This month's Goanet operations sponsored by Mrs. Daisy Faleiro If you would like to sponsor Goanet's operations contact: Herman Carneiro - [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Drop-out rates in Goa at the primary school level or at the transition between primary and secondary schools, are high, but not as high as in the rest of India. The percentage of children aged 6 14 that are not attending school, either because of non-enrollment or drop-out, in rural Goa is 0.3 compared to the national average of 6.6. This is according to the first Annual Status of Education Report conducted in 2005. There is no simplistic singular reason for dropping out of school. The Konkani as a medium of instruction mandated by the Goa government, and the resulting difficult transition, is certainly one reason, but not the only reason, nor the principal reason. In fact, historically most Goan Hindu students who have passed SSC or secured college degrees have attended Marathi medium primary schools and switched to English only in the 5th standard. National surveys have shown that there are many reasons for the high drop-out rate in schools. Some of the important ones are: 1. Unschooled parents, especially mothers who do not attach much value to education or cannot help their children cope with scholastic difficulties. 2. Child labor necessitated by poverty. 3. Ancient prejudices against educating girls, requiring them to do household work. 4. Requiring boys to help their fathers in farming and other familial trades. 5. Poor teacher to student ratio in the classroom. On measures of literacy national surveys have shown that problems with basic arithmetic are more severe than with language skills. In rural Goa the percentage of children in the 5th standard that cannot read at level-2 proficiency is 32, while the percentage that cannot subtract and divide is 55. The national averages for these measures are again worse than in Goa. They are 40 and 57, respectively. Cheers, Santosh