City,state schools score poorly on infra

“The numbers paint a very sad picture. Figures released at the central level have also shown that while states were expected to renew their curriculum according to the Act,Maharashtra is one of the few that are lagging in this aspect,” said a senior academician.

The infrastructure norms include building,headmistress room,one classroom for every teacher,ramp,separate toilet for boys,separate toilet for girls,drinking water,kitchen shed,boundary wall and playground.

“We are in the process of compiling data for the 2012-13 academic year. But my initial assessment is that the state has made a positive progress in all aspects under the RTE Act,” said Mahavir Mane,state director of primary education. The deadline for compliance with the RTE Act was March 31,2013.

The figures are more disturbing when schools are categorised under government and private heads. In the government category,not a single school in Mumbai and less than 3 per cent (2,004) schools across the state have adhered to all norms.

In Mumbai,54 or 4.32 per cent private unaided schools have fulfilled all regulations under infrastructure,while the number stands at 975 (8.12 per cent) for the state. Further,for private aided schools,a meagre 0.24 per cent (three) schools in the city complied with the norms as against 2.7 per cent (553) across the state.

The state’s performance vis-a-vis the rest of the country on the educational development index for 2011-12,however,throws a different picture. At the primary level,the state ranks third in the country in infrastructure,fifth in outcomes,31 in access and 17th in teacher category.

At the upper primary level,the state is fifth in infrastructure as well as outcome,18th in teacher,and 25th in access. For Maharashtra,blocks have been ranked from 1 to 373. Of the 373 blocks,Mumbai is ranked 194th in infrastructure,34th in teacher,39th in outcome and is positioned 81 in overall across the state.

According to available data,while 30.89 per cent (1,184) schools in the city had ramps as against 64.97 per cent (65,021) across Maharashtra,59.9 per cent (2,296) city schools have playgrounds as against 63.38 per cent (63,432) across the state.

Mumbai schools fare the worst in the category of schools with kitchen shed — only 0.76 per cent fulfil this criterion. With the exception of drinking water facilities,Mumbai has failed to show 100 per cent compliance in the other categories under infrastructure.

The annual average student dropout rate in the city at the primary level is 2.30 and stands at 1.40 at the upper primary level. It is similar to the state figures of 2.20 (primary) and 2.60 (upper primary).

Schools,however,score well in percentage of classrooms in good condition — it is 93.2 (34,187 classrooms) in Mumbai and 82.9 (5,27,109 classrooms) across the state.

While 99.2 per cent teachers in city and 98.3 per cent across the state have qualification as per the RTE Act,only 49 out of 3,833 schools in Mumbai fulfil all RTE norms for teachers. The numbers are 2,274 out of 1,00,084 across Maharashtra.

A category-wise analysis shows that 99.5 per cent government schools,99.9 per cent private-aided schools and 98.1 per cent private-unaided schools in Mumbai have teachers with qualifications as prescribed under the Act. Further,only 1,028 schools fulfil RTE norms for head teacher in Mumbai as compared to 47,607 across the state.

“When most of the schools were set up or given recognition,they were as per the old norms. The number of students has also gone up. Infrastructure is an important parameter but some of the norms under the Act like playgrounds may not be an easy task in a city like Mumbai,” said Basanti Roy,former secretary of the Maharashtra state board’s Mumbai division.