STATE SCHOOLS BEAR BRUNT OF UNKEPT PROMISES

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India reveals that many government education schemes have been unfulfilled, and this has led to a decline of enrolment in government schools. In government primary schools, the enrolment has declined by 1.12 lakh between 2014-17. In the case of private primary schools, enrollment has increased by 0.61 lakh.

The same scenario is seen in government upper primary schools and private upper primary schools, where there has been a decrease of 0.20 lakh for the former and an increase of 0.03 lakh for the latter.

The lack of release of sanctioned funds was also stated in the report, i.e., out of the `1,839.35 crore approved by the PAB in 2014-15, only `831.09 crore were actually released. Similarly, only `681.11 crore was released out of `1,667.34 crore approved in 2015-16. Likewise, 2016-17 saw the release of only `1,181.35 crore as opposed to the scheduled `1,853.72 crore, the CAG report said.

Inclusive education took a hit as only `15.42 crore (35 per cent) was released and spent by the department, out of the `43.51 crore approved by the PAB. Transport allowance of 42 per cent and escort allowance for 56 per cent of children with special needs (CWSN) was not provided. Neither was training provided to 74 per cent of teachers for CESN.

There was a high dropout rate of students during the transition from grade I to VIII, particularly among the SC/ST boys and girls. This was stated to be due to socio-economic status, migration of families and lack of toilet facilities or teachers in schools, among other reasons. A child tracking system was not being used in the state even in 2017 and therefore, continuity of the child's education could not be ensured.

The state had not implemented the provisions of the RTE Act and the state rules with regard to 25 per cent reservation for disadvantaged children in private unaided schools. As a result, the objective of providing equal educational opportunities to children belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds could not be achieved. The RTE Act has been successfully implemented in states such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and others.

The mid-day meal scheme also suffers because the construction of kitchen cum store rooms for cooking in a hygienic environment remains unfulfilled. Only 1,435 schools out of 25,991 schools were serving the mid-day meals prepared at the centralised kitchen. Other schools have been cooking in the open in unhygienic conditions.

Teacher training schemes have also suffered in the state, with only 12.5 per cent of teachers at the high school level being proficient in English and 0 per cent at the primary level. Almost 90 per cent of primary and 43 percent of high school teachers are at an average, below average or poor level when it comes to the language.

The schools were largely deficient when it came to the provision of basic infrastructural facilities and amenities. Nearly 75 per cent of all schools in the state had no basic infrastructural amenities, 45 per cent did not have a playground and 39 per cent lacked any kind of boundary wall or fencing.

The proficiency levels of students, between grades II to VII, in the year 2016-17, regarding reading, writing and simple arithmetic was 31 per cent. About 14-26 per cent of children at the primary level and 21-47 per cent in the upper primary level have scored less than 40 per cent during the years 2014-17. This reflected poor competitive levels among children when it comes to academics in government schools.