The number of children enrolled at primary schools in West Bengal in 2010-11 had declined by over three lakh compared to the previous year, according to a report by the non-government organisation Child Right and You (CRY) that has a presence across the country.
The report is based on findings of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.
“One of the most important things that we need to do for our children, especially those from the marginalised sections of society, is to ensure effective implementation of the Right to Education Act (RTE) as this would go a long way in improving the status of children in the country,” said CRY Regional Director Atindranath Das in a release issued on the occasion of Children’s Day on Wednesday.
“The data in the report indicates that education for all is still a distant cry in India as far as implementation of RTE is concerned,” he added.
The report pointed out that the total enrolment of girls for primary and upper primary levels in the State was 49 per cent and 52 per cent respectively in the year 2010-11.
Though the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act was passed in 2009, the State’s average annual drop-out rate at primary level in 2010-11 was 6.5, which was almost equivalent to the national average of 6.8.
The report also highlighted that 45 per cent of government primary schools have a pupil-teacher ratio greater than 30 -- two per cent higher than the all-India figure.
It revealed that 39 per cent of government upper primary schools have a pupil-teacher ratio greater than 35, which was six per cent higher than the national figure.
It also stated that three per cent of the government schools in the State were manned by single-teacher (per school). According to the report, nine per cent of these schools do not have a toilet facility and five per cent of the State’s government-run primary schools do not have drinking water facilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment