Marked improvement in primary education sector: govt study

Updated on: Thursday, February 03, 2011

The primary education sector has witnessed marked improvement due to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme, with significant increase in facilities like provision of drinking water and toilets in schools, said a government study released.
The study conducted by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) for 2009-10 said 92 per cent of the 1.3 million schools that impart elementary education in the country now have drinking water facility.

It also said 54.31 per cent schools in the country had access to common toilets in 2009-10, of which about 59 per cent of total 1.3 million schools had girls' toilets.

The data was compiled from 1.3 million recognised schools imparting elementary education from across 635 districts spread over 35 states and Union Territories of the country.

The NUEPA comprehensive database on elementary education in India is known as District Information System for Education (DISE).

DISE's coverage for 2009-10 itself was 13,03,812 schools from 635 districts as against 12,85,576 schools in 2008-09. Of the total schools, about 87.13 pr cent schools were located in rural areas.

The study said the average number of instructional rooms in primary schools has also improved to 3.2 in 2009-10 from 3.1 in the previous year.

It said not a single state has less than 2 classrooms in primary schools.

The average number of classrooms in case of Bihar is 2.1 as compared to 12 in Chandigarh and Delhi.

Focusing on drinking water facilities, it said all the schools in Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep, and Pudducherry have been provided with the drinking water facility in the school.

It said 16.65 per cent schools have computers with percentage of such schools as high as 90 per cent in Chandigarh, 82 per cent in Delhi.

The report said enrolment both at the primary and upper primary level of education has increased over the years, with the figure touching 187.72 million in 2008-09 and
remaining at 187.87 million in 2009-10.

It also suggested improvement in participation of Muslim children in elementary education, with a total enrolment of 17.98 million children in primary classes in 2008-09 which was 13.48 per cent of the total 133.41 million enrolment for classes one to five in the country.

Marked improvement in primary education sector: govt study

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