Govt schools: CRY study finds lapses in RTE implementation

About 11 per cent of the government schools in India do not have toilets while 20 per cent of them do not have safe drinking water, according to a survey conducted by an NGO.
The study by Child Care and You was conducted in 642 government schools (primary and upper primary) across the country.
Titled 'Learning Blocks', the study claims that there are significant lapses in the Right to Education Act since its implementation in 2009.
Important provisions under the Act like school infrastructure, toilets, drinking water facilities, student- teacher ratio are not at 100 per cent, it says.
As per the findings, only 18 per cent of the schools had separate toilets for girls and around 49 per cent of them had common toilets for staff and students.

"CRY's experience on-ground points to the fact that the lack of basic infrastructure -- especially facilities for drinking water and separate toilets for girls -- is one of the key factors that push children out of school," CEO of CRY, Puja Marwaha said.

Non-availability of head teachers was reported in 28 per cent of the primary schools and 31 per cent of the upper primary schools. In 18 per cent of the schools, the mid-day meals were either not cooked inside a designated kitchen or did not have a kitchen space at all.
The findings also show poor infrastructure in most of the government schools. Almost 63 per cent of the schools did not have a boundary wall, 39 per cent of the primary schools and about 52 per cent of the upper primary schools are without classrooms.

Around 58 per cent of the schools did not have separate room for head teachers.