Class 1 enrolment falls 23%, student-teacher ratio poor
Enrolment in Class 1 in Delhi government and aided schools fell by 23% between 2010-11 and 2015-16, the Comptroller and Auditor of General of India (CAG) said in its report tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Friday.
The report pointed out that implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act suffered in Delhi due to poor planning, preparation and vacancy.
Enrolment in Class 1 fell from 2,04,884 in 2010-11 to 1,56,911 in 2015-16 and was not consistent with the increase in the population of the city, it said.
The government said the decline was “due to migratory nature of population”.
The report said the local body and the government failed to set specific targets for enrolment of children.
“The government failed to complete the mandatory household survey to collect and maintain database of children and link it with mapping of schools for the purpose of establishing neighbourhood schools,” the report said.
Poor implementation of RTE is also due to delay in release of funds by the HRD ministry. Only 58.03% of the funds was made available out of the total allocated and the underutilised amount ranged between 2.69% and 41.38%, the report said.
The CAG said the standard of education was being compromised due to shortage of teachers. Out of 38,916 posts of teachers and librarians, 8,579 (22%) is vacant in schools under the directorate of education.
“The audit noted that against 3,760 trained graduate teacher (TGT) posts sanctioned in March 2011, the directorate filled 1,082 posts through promotions. Requisition for 2,678 posts was sent to Delhi Subordinate Staff Selection Board between January 2012 and April 2013 but the matter was not pursued. Moreover, the DOE did not finalise amendments in recruitment rules for the posts of work experience teachers due to which 1,016 posts were vacant,” the report said.
Due to this shortage, the pupilteacher ratio (PTR) is adverse in government schools, ranging from 41 to 169 in primary and 36 to 182 in upper primary classes.
The report highlights how the ₹18.29 crore sanctioned during 2015-16 for construction of additional classrooms and toilets remained unutilised. Similarly, the north and south municipal corporation could not utilise 69 to 81% of the funds given for the same purpose.
The report stated that uniforms, textbooks and writing materials were not distributed on time to municipal schools.
Even the State Council Educational Research and Training had utilised only ₹ 4.75 crore to conduct in-service training, out of the total ₹12.46 crore allotted.