Patna, Feb 20 (ANI): According to the recently released Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012 by Pratham, a non-government organisation, a large number of schools are yet to put in place the basic infrastructure prescribed under the Right to Education Act (RTE) even as the March 31 deadline set for them is fast approaching.
The report indicated that the trend of lack of teachers in schools continues in almost all the states. The prescribed teacher-pupil ratio of 1:30 has still not been implemented in more than half the schools (57.2 per cent) in 567 rural districts of the country.
The situation is worse in Bihar where the percentage of schools fulfilling the prescribed teacher-pupil ratio was a dismal 8.5 in 2012.
The statistics mentioned in the report are confirmed outside the Government Middle School in the Salimpora Ahra colony in Bihar's capital, Patna where one can catch sight of little children playing together amid animals in the little space they call their playground.
A cow tied with her calf to the school wall, stray dogs sniffing around the mounds of garbage in every nook presents a rather clear picture of the hygiene of the school. During the lunch break, these animals give company to the students, directly affecting their health and not so directly, their understanding of the sanctity of education.
Small classrooms overflowing with children , mirrors the status of the aspirational guidelines set by the Right to Education Act (RTE) regarding the basic infrastructure of schools across the country. The grim situation here is a replica of schools located elsewhere in the slum colonies of Patna. The Government Middle School located at the Dargah Road in Sulatanganj, for instance, is simply another example of basic infrastructural facilities being unavailable for students. From electricity to safe drinking water, from sanitation to a quiet environment, from teachers to administration - nothing seems to be in place.
The unavailability of safe drinking water results in a number of diseases like diarrhea and cholera, compounded by the problem of mosquitoes caused by poor hygiene conditions and aiding the spread of dengue and malaria. Many students fall ill and miss a large chunk of their education. There are only urinals available and for defecation they have to rush home. Once they leave school, they come back only after a long nap or playing with their friends back home.
Inefficient teachers, non- functional libraries and no extracurricular activities leave children devoid of an overall development. The mid-day meal is available only for the students in primary school, unlike the requirements of the national Mid Day Meal Program.
For a considerable strength of three hundred and fifty five students, a mere six teachers have been appointed, violating the prescribed teacher-pupil ratio of 1:30 as per the RTE Act. Worse, the appointed teachers are ill trained and the in-service training has not been taken seriously by the administration. According to Sabra Khatoon, a parent of two, "The quality of teachers and the education is quite poor. Teachers do not come to school and if they come at all, the purpose is not the nurturing of the students but the formality of marking their attendance in the register."
"This school was built before Independence. It was doing well in the earlier years and provided quality education, but the situation started deteriorating later - both in terms of education and infrastructure. With Bihar shining, the condition of the school has depleted," says a seventy-five year old businessman who happens to be an alumnus of the school.
Predictably, the teachers have a different take. They maintain that everything in the school is in place: the education, sanitation and the execution of government schemes. "The school is providing the best studying environment to the students. The facilities like Mid Day Meals and money for the uniforms is available for them. There is no compromise on education," said Nandu Rai, an assistant teacher of the Middle school, Salimpora Ahra. The headmaster was unavailable for comments.
What was apparent to the eyes was nowhere reflected in the conscience of the teachers or the school administration. Families, which fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL), send their children to these Government schools. Those parents with four or five children who cannot afford sending each of their children to a private school trust these government schemes to help their children get an education. The non-implementation of these schemes defeats their hopes and gives rise to another set of problems like high dropout rates, poor results leading to no interest in education and child labour.
The entire nation understands the importance of education. We blame our education system for being at the root of many ills facing India today. Unemployment, child labour, increasing rate of crime, superstition, overpopulation - all these challenges seek solutions from within our education system.
To change the system one needs to learn; and to learn, education is a prerequisite - be it in a private school or a government one.
The Charkha Development Communication Network feels that we owe it to the next generation of citizens to try and ensure that efforts are made to ensure that adequate efforts are made to provide education to all our citizens. By Soimaya Khurshid and Barkha Mehta (ANI)
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