Kolkata, March 5 : The CPI(M) has conducted a sample survey on the rate of dropouts in the school education system in West Bengal which has revealed that 22 per cent of the students enrolled at the upper primary level dropped out at the beginning of the secondary level. The upper primary bracket is from Class 5 to 8, while the secondary level is of Class 9 -10. As per the sample survey conducting by CPI(M)'s West Bengal unit covering 22 schools from different geographical locations in south Bengal, it has been revealed that 22 per cent of the students who got enrolled in the Class 5, which is the entry level for the upper primary section, dropped out at the beginning of Class 9, which is the entry level for the secondary section. The same survey has pointed out a more alarming phenomenon, that of the total students who got enrolled in the Class 5 in the 22 schools covered under this survey, almost 42 per cent did not appear for the secondary examination conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Examination (WBBSE). As per records of WBBSE, the total number of students appearing for the board- conducted secondary examination in 2023 has declined by over four lakhs compared to what it was in 2022. An headmaster in a state-run higher secondary school in South 24 Parganas district told IANS on strict condition of anonymity that to his opinion the results of the survey seem to be extremely conservative and to his opinion the percentage of dropouts at the secondary level would be much more. "In the school where I am headmaster, we have witnessed an almost 40 per cent dropout at the 9th standard this year. And this trend of dropout has been continuing for quite some time and the pace has accelerated after the Covid-19 pandemic. No wonder the number of students appearing for the board-conducted secondary examination declined by over four lakhs," he said. According to CPI(M) central committee member, Sujan Chakraborty, for the state education department which is saddled with the burden of skyrocketing corruption, taking an initiative to encourage the dropouts to return to the school is not a priority. "Unless the state education department takes initiative on this ground, the future of the education system in the state is extremely bleak," he said. /IANS