Government schools in Punjab are living up to their reputation of being “sarkari”, it appears. As the administrative rigmaroles prevented the upgradation of infrastructure and hiring of more and more proficient teachers, the parents across the State slammed shut the chapter of sarkari schools in the academic history book of the their children before preferring private institutions.
Figure this: In five years spanning from 2011-12 to 2015-16, the number of students in State’s Government and Government-aided schools decreased from 20.76 lakh (20,76,619) in 2011-12 to 18.79 lakh (18,79,126) in 2015-16.
On the other hand, the number increased by 1.19 lakhs with the count standing at 19.63 lakh (19,63,844) in 2011-12 to 20.83 lakh (20,83,313) in 2015-16. The latest figures, available with the state Education Department, pointed that while about two lakh (1,97,493) students move out of the Government schools, a total of 1,19,469 more students joined the private institutions.
The figures, uncovering the state of affairs in Government school education, came at a time when the parents are protesting against private school managements for acting arbitrarily on the issue of fee hike.
Parents have termed these private schools as money minting institutions, and have urged the Punjab Government to rein these. “Parents prefer their children to go to private schools as Government schools could not provide them proper infrastructure, quality and highly educated teachers, and other facilities. In past few years, lot of private schools has also come up,” a senior Education Department official told The Pioneer.
The Department, in its report, has cited dilapidated infrastructure, shortage of teachers, and lack of teachers in schools situated in rural, backward, or border areas, among other things.
Besides other things, the government schools are being run from “unsafe” buildings, while some lack proper space. In fact, many schools do not have sufficient number of classrooms.
According to the survey of all schools across India under the District Information System for Education report, Punjab has one of the pitiable average of just four classrooms per school at primary level in Government schools. As per the Annual Status of Education Report, that surveyed 561 government schools with primary sections in Punjab, only 40 per cent of grade III children able to read grade II text, while only 65 per cent of grade V children and 80 per cent of grade VII children were able to read the text.
“The Right to Education (RTE) is one of the contributory factors as children are promoted notwithstanding how they perform till Class VIII,” lamented the official, adding that the Department is working towards doing away with the gradation system and re-introducing the previous examination system. The official shared that as the government schools struggle hard to match with the infrastructure, setup and, quality of education provided in its private counterpart, Punjab also have a serious problem of mounting drop-out rate in the schools.
The average annual drop-out rate at the primary school level has increased from 1.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 3.1 per cent in 2015-16.
According to District Information for System Education (DISE) data, 84 per cent of primary-age students were enrolled in primary school in 2015-16, but only 51.6 per cent of secondary-age school students were enrolled in secondary school.
“As the new government has took over, Department is considering all issues and working out various plans and strategies to tackle this…From improving infrastructure in government schools to checking the business-style functioning of the private institutions, the Department is working on all aspects and would soon announce its steps,” added the official.