Mouthful of assurances from successive Governments notwithstanding, the condition of children from West Bengal continues to remain grim, recent studies conducted by various agencies suggest. This apart, the condition of girl children seems to be worse than their male counterparts.
According to studies conducted by the Child Rights and You, a whopping 1.2 million children between the age of 5 and 14 are the victim of child labour. The children who are thus made to work illegally constitute about 5 per cent of the total about 2.4 crore children of the State.
Studies also show how in a State which was the first to experience the renaissance in the European sense of the term about 20 per cent of the girls are married off before they attain the age of 15. Worse than that almost “half of the female teens are pregnant by the age of 19” says the report.
More alarmingly there has been a 27 per cent increase in trafficking of the minor girls over the few years. For instance whereas there were 679 such cases reported in 2010 the figure jumped to 862 a year later in 2011.
Cut to education, a yearly data collected from the district information system for education the percentage of students enrolled in Government primary schools have dipped from 99 per cent in 2002 to 89 per cent ten years later in 2012. However, the figure for the girls remains constant at 49 during the referred decade. On the other hand, in the case of primary schools with upper primary classes the percentage of girls getting enrolled has fallen significantly in 10 year period say reports.
The reports also show how there has been a 10 per cent fall in the number of single-classroom primary schools during the decade between 2002 and 2012. While in 2002 the figure was 23 per cent in 2012 it has come down to 13 per cent. Similarly there has been significant fall in the number of single-teacher primary schools. While in 2002 there were eight per cent such schools in 2012 it has come down to about 3.3 per cent of the total number of primary schools in the State.
However, there has been a considerable increase in the number of girls’ toilets. While in 2002 about eight per cent primary schools had girls’ toilets the figure rose to about 49 per cent in 2012. However, about 47 per cent upper primary schools do not have girls’ toilets.
Similarly in case of drinking water facilities while in 2002 about 71 per cent schools had drinking water facilities ten years later about 97 per cent schools have drinking water facilities.
The report also says that “around 40 per cent primary schools ... 44 per cent upper primary schools are not in good condition.” However there has been a significant improvement in infant mortality rate from 1998-99 to 2007-09, the report says adding the “immunisation coverage in the State has improved by 32.”