A recent report released by NITI Aayog has highlighted major gaps in India’s government school infrastructure, revealing that thousands of schools across the country continue to function without basic facilities such as electricity, toilets, water supply and adequate teaching staff.
According to NITI Aayog’s report titled School Education System in India, nearly 1.19 lakh schools still do not have functional electricity connections. The report further states that around 98,592 schools lack usable girls’ toilets, while 61,540 schools do not have functional toilets at all. In addition, nearly 14,505 schools are without proper water supply and 59,829 schools do not have handwashing facilities.
The report also noted that only 51.7% of government secondary schools in the country have science laboratories, raising concerns about the quality of education, particularly in rural regions.
Teacher shortages continue to remain another major issue. Around 1,04,125 schools are reportedly being managed by a single teacher, with the majority located in rural areas. States such as Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh were found to have the highest number of teacher vacancies. In Jharkhand, the student-teacher ratio in secondary schools has reached 47:1.
The report further expressed concern over student dropout rates after primary education. The national dropout rate at the secondary level stands at 11.5%. West Bengal recorded the highest dropout rate at 20%, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka at 18.3% each. Assam also reported a high dropout rate of 17.5%.
Another alarming finding in the report was the existence of nearly 7,993 schools with zero student enrolment across the country. West Bengal and Telangana were reported to have the highest number of such ‘ghost schools’, referring to government schools with no enrolled students.
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