Dropout rate in SGPC educational institutes declines from 30% to 5%
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has significantly overcome the high dropout rate from about 30 per cent in its 40 higher education institutions in the academic session 2020-21 to about 5 per cent in the academic year ending March 31.
The Sikh body, running 75 primary and secondary education institutes, recorded an increase in student intake as well. All these educational institutions are situated across Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Now, the SGPC has planned to hire 10 per cent more faculty to its present strength of 5,000 to ensure the smooth imparting of education in the next academic session. Therefore, the SGPC increased the education component in its annual budget by Rs 44 crore to Rs 295 crore for the next academic session 2025-26 in comparison to last year’s allocation of Rs 251 crore.
After a dip in student strength, the SGPC-run colleges counted student strength at 33,484 in 2023-24 which had risen from 30,553 in 2022-23. Maximum student intake rose by 6,767 to reach 40.251 in 2024-25. Student strength in schools increased from 18,940 in 2020-21 and 24,655 this session.
The SGPC gradually brought down annual losses to Rs 30 crore in 2023, which are now much lower. Sukhminder Singh, secretary (education), SGPC, credited this turnaround to the introduction of admission, sports policies, besides concession to the deserving students.
