NEW DELHI: India’s school education system faces daunting challenges as just 65% of its 1.47 million schools have computers, and only 58% have functional ones for teaching. Internet access is available in just over 63% of schools, though 92% have functional electricity.Basic facilities such as drinking water are nearly universal (99%), but functionality lags in over 4,000 schools, and more than 25,000 lack working electricity. Toilets exist in 98.6% of schools, and hand wash facilities in 95.9%.Alarming enrolment patterns highlight another stress point: 5.1% of schools report fewer than 10 students, with many effectively on the brink of closure. Zero-enrolment schools dominate remote areas — Ladakh (32.2% below 10 enrolments), Arunachal Pradesh (22.2%) and Uttarakhand (22.2%). Most hill states have over 10% such schools. Telangana (12.7%), Andhra (9.8%), West Bengal (7.6%), Maharashtra (6.9%) and Karnataka (8.1%) also show underutilised infrastructure.The Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) adds to concerns. Nationally, the primary level shows a healthy 20:1 ratio, but higher classes reveal stark gaps: 47:1 in Jharkhand, 37:1 in Maharashtra and Odisha, and 35:1 in Uttar Pradesh, breaching the RTE norm of 30:1. NEP 2020 recommends 20:1 to 25:1 across levels.Teacher training is largely strong — 91.4% at primary and 91.7% at upper primary schools — but states like Meghalaya dip to 72% and 80%, raising quality concerns.The ministry of education’s UDISE+ 2024-25 report, released Thursday, highlights these disparities across govt, aided, private, and other schools. The digital divide is stark: just 58.6% of government schools have internet, against 77.1% of private ones, undermining NEP 2020’s tech goals. Medical check-ups, another basic support, cover only 75.5% of schools nationwide, plunging to 32.7% in Bihar and 44.9% in Nagaland.Southern states fare far better. Kerala has toilets in 99.5% of schools and internet in 91.7%; Tamil Nadu reports 99.3% toilets and 84.9% internet. In contrast, West Bengal struggles with just 18.6% internet and 25.1% computer availability. Jharkhand reflects both poor digital readiness (57.9% internet) and extreme teacher shortages (47:1 PTR). Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir also have less than 50% internet coverage. Meghalaya, with only 26.4% internet access and low teacher training, illustrates systemic gaps.Critics argue such deficiencies aggravate the 11.5% secondary dropout rate, disproportionately affecting rural students and threatening NEP 2020’s inclusivity goals.
