Over a lakh children in Delhi still out of school

New Delhi: More than one lakh children in the national capital are still out of school, a report by the human resource development ministry said as the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act completed a year on Friday since its implementation.

The RTE report card which analyzed the primary education scenario in the country was released especially for the occasion.

According to the report, 1,24,022 children in the age group of six to 14 were out of school in Delhi, as per a survey in 2009. Across the country, the out-of-school children figure stands at 81,50,619.

"It's unfortunate that 81,50,619 children in the age group of six to 14 are still out of school. We have to bring all those children to school," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said while releasing the report.

On a positive note however, Delhi has scored quite well in other parameters.

For instance, as compared to national figure of pupil-teacher ratio of 32, in Delhi the ratio is 28. Then, at the national level the percentage of teachers without professionalqualification is 21, but in Delhi it stands at one.

Water drinking facility is present in 100 percent schools in Delhi. 79 percent schoolshere have girls toilets, 71 percent schools have ramps for disadvantaged students, 75 percent schools have playground and 98 percent have boundary walls.

Delhi is one of the 11 states which have constituted a state commission to monitor implementation of the RTE Act. Notification of the state rules however is still "in process", the report said.

A total of 16,84,425 students have been enrolled in the primary level in Delhi and 9,82,164 in the upper primary level. Delhi has 3,034 government and aided schoolsand has 57,777 teachers in these schools.

source:http://www.indiaedunews.net/Today/Over_a_lakh_children_in_Delhi_still_out_of_school_13790/

Meghalaya ranks poorly in elementary education - report

Meghalaya ranks way below the national average in imparting elementary education in the country, according to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2010.

The national average of children in the 3-4 years age group in 'anganwadi' schools is 75.7 percent, whereas Meghalaya's average is way below at 46.7 percent, revealed the report, released on Thursday by Leader of Opposition Conrad K. Sangma. 

According to the report, the national average of children in the age group of 6-14 out of school is 3.5 percent and Meghalaya's average is more that double at 7.2 percent.

Moreover, children between ages 3 and 6 years not attending any kind of pre-school is very high in Meghalaya and the percentage of such children in the state is increasing year after year since 1997.

Amongst the seven districts of the state, Jaintia Hills fares the worst in impartingelementary education, the report stated.

The report comes as no surprise since pre-school teachers, mostly in rural areas, are still getting a salary of Rs.1,800 despite many appeals to the government. This salary has remained unchanged for the past ten years, so many of these teachers juggle between several jobs to make ends meet.

"Many of the elementary school teachers have outsourced their jobs to others. In return they get 50 percent of the salary and carry on other work," the report said.

"In such a scenario, how can the state expect to do well in imparting elementary education," Sangma said.

He also claimed that the central government's flagship programme - the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - has also lured children away from the schools in the villages.

"Many school children are not attending their classes and are taking up jobs under the MGNREGS. The state government must ensure that such instances do not take place," Sangma said.

source:http://indiaedunews.net/Meghalaya/Meghalaya_ranks_poorly_in_elementary_education_-_report_13541/