The Congress has slammed the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana for the poor standard of education and lack of basic facilities in government schools in the state which lag way behind their private counterparts in respects more than one.
“Immediate and expedient steps should be taken to shore up things if “Make in Haryana” and “Digital Haryana” are to have any meaning,” demanded Kiran Choudhry, leader of the Haryana Congress legislature Party, on Wednesday.
In a statement issued here, the former Excise and Taxation Minister referred to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016 which exposes the total failure of the state government to improve academic performance and learning ability of the students and provide the schools even basic facilities.
Choudhry said the survey revealed that a large percentage of students in government schools (class I to VIII) had poor learning skills, reading ability and arithmetic skills. “Only 25.1 per cent students in class III in government schools can read class II level text-book while the percentage is as high as 60.9 in private schools. Similarly, only 54.6 per cent students enrolled in class V can read class II level text in government schools while the percentage stood at 79.2 in private schools”, she added.
As far as arithmetic proficiency goes, only 30.1 per cent students could do division in class V in government schools while the percentage in private schools is as high as 63.9. Worse still, only 27.7 per cent students in government schools in class III could do subtraction against 73.7 per cent in private schools.
“It is a sad commentary on the state of education in Haryana. A large number of schools do not meet the RTE norms.
As many as 16.6 per cent schools have no facility of drinking water; 2.9 per cent no separate provision for girls’ toilets; and 89.4 per cent do not have computers for children while there is no library in 16.8 per cent schools”, Choudhry pointed out, adding that expedient steps should be taken to improve things if “Make in Haryana” and “Digital Haryana” are to have any meaning.