Schools lack infrastructure to live upto RTE targets

The Act says that every school needs to have all-weather building with provision of one classroom for every teacher and separate toilets for boys and girls. A survey on 'Elementary Education in India: Progress Towards Universalisation of Elementary Education', conducted by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), has found that nearly half of the 1.29 million recognised elementary schools in the country do not have separate toilets for girls.

While only 53 per cent of the schools have separate toilets for girls, nearly 67 per cent of the elementary schools have common toilets facility only, it said. The percentage of elementary schools having access to drinking water facility was 88 last year. All schools in Delhi, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu have been provided with drinking water facility, it said.

The Act says the schools need to have barrier free access. But the study found that only 40 per cent of the schools have ramps. Against the Act stipulating kitchen facility in each school for conduct of mid-day-meal programme, about 57 per cent of the government and aided schools do not have kitchen-sheds in their premises, the survey found.

The Act says there should be one teacher for every 30 students. The survey found there were 5.79 million teachers engaged in teaching in schools at elementary level in 2008-09. On an average, there were 4.5 teachers in a school, it found. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has said that there is a shortage of nearly five lakh teachers while there are about three lakh untrained teachers at elementary stage.