More than 86.8 per cent youngsters in the 14-18 years age bracket in the country are enrolled in educational institutions, while more than half of them opt for the humanities stream, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released on Wednesday.

While the report noted small gender gaps in enrolment, it flagged notable differences between age groups.

"Older youth are more likely to be not enrolled. The percentage of youth not enrolled is 3.9 per cent for 14-year-old youth and 32.6 per cent for 18-year-olds," the report said.

Last year's report showed that the enrolment levels of children in the age bracket of six to 14 years had gone up from 96.6 per cent in 2010 to 96.7 per cent in 2014 and from 97.2 per cent in 2018 to 98.4 per cent in 2022.

The report said more than 55 per cent students of Classes 11-12 opt for humanities, followed by science and commerce.

It also pointed out that females are less likely to be enrolled in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) streams than males.

Only 5.6 per cent youngsters in the country are currently undergoing vocational training or have been enrolled in other related courses, the report said.

It also noted that 25 per cent youngsters in the age group of 14-18 years cannot read a Class-2 level text fluently in their regional languages.

The report asserted that the fear that several older students dropped out of school during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a loss of livelihood was unfounded.

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