Dynamics of Low Transition Rate from Primary to Upper Primary in Bihar

The Unified-District Information System of Education report of Bihar (U-DISE, 2014-15) revealed that about 17.45 per cent children of class V could not transit to class VI in elementary schools. It seems that the goal of universal elementary education may not be realised in the near future if transition rates are not further significantly enhanced. The study was designed to explore contextual reasons of low transition rate from primary to upper primary schools in Bihar with the help of a set of tools. The study was conducted on the government schools (135) randomly selected from three districts (9 blocks and 27 CRCs). 270 teachers, 174 VSS members, 98 Parents, 57 Non-transited children, 27 CRCCs and 9 BRCCs participated in the study. Altogether 1293 cases of the left study category and 411 cases of the left school children were recorded across district. The emerging trend pointed out that domestic work (30 per cent) and wage earning (25 per cent) were prominent reasons across district. Early marriage (11 per cent) and geographical barrier (10 per cent) were other reasons that could not be underestimated. About 47 per cent teachers admitted that schools had no child-friendly set-up leading to low transition in class VI. 43 per cent teachers admitted the fact that their schools were not conducive to transiting all children to class VI. The study discussed the role of VSS members, parents and cluster-resource centre coordinators (CRCCs) in low transition rate and also suggested some measures of improving transition rate.