At a time when Haryana Education Department is preparing to roll out its new education policy to improve the quality of education, a large number of schools in the State not only lack basic infrastructure like desks and playgrounds but also do not have teachers as per sanctioned strength.
While the State Government is busy making provision of smart classes in Government schools of Haryana, there are no desks in as many as 13,636 Government schools of the state.
As per the latest data with Haryana Education Department, the students in 13,636 Government schools have to sit on floor to study as there are no desks to sit.
Not only this, 10,477 Government schools in the state do not have regular teachers as per the sanctioned strength of teachers. As far as facility of playground is concerned, more than 2000 schools are devoid of this facility.
Experts in the education sector have pointed out that absence of basic infrastructure and facilities is one of the major factors for school dropout rate and low enrolment rate in Government schools.
Apart from this, the quality of education in Haryana is also affected due to huge vacancy in Government schools of the state. According to the latest information, 12111 posts of Post Graduate Teacher (PGTs), 11177 posts of Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs), 7767 Masters Classical & Vernacular Teachers (C&V) and 12712 posts of Primary Teachers (PRTs)/ Head Teachers are lying vacant in Government schools of Haryana.
An official of Haryana Education Department informed that the State Government has set a target to provide dual desks in all the schools by the end of next year 2016 and chalking out plans to ensure playgrounds in all the schools. Also, the State Government has sent requisition of 8145 posts of PGTs and 1919 posts of TGTs meant for direct quota to Haryana Staff Selection Commission for regular recruitment in the schools, said the official.
In the absence of basic infrastructure and adequate teaching staff in the Government schools, Haryana continues to witness poor academic performance of the students.
The state’s latest monthly assessment demonstrates that a large percentage of students in Government schools have poor learning skills. As per the latest monthly assessment report of the Education Department, more than 70 percent students of classes III, V, VI, VIII could not score 50 percent or more marks in English.
The students also failed to perform well in other subjects including Hindi, Environment Studies, Social Science and Science. More than 72 percent students in Class VI failed to score 50 percent or higher than that in Social Science and Science, stated the assessment report.
Notably, the state had also witnessed worst ever HBSE (Haryana Board of School Education) results for class X and XII this year registering pass percentage of only 41.28 percent and 53.96 percent respectively.