New Delhi: A new report released by NITI Aayog has highlighted serious shortcomings in India’s school education system, revealing that thousands of schools across the country continue to function without basic infrastructure such as electricity, toilets, water supply, laboratories, and adequate teaching staff.
The report, titled “School Education System in India”, presents national and state level data on school infrastructure, enrolment, staffing, and learning outcomes. Despite improvements over the years, the findings show that many schools still lack essential facilities needed for quality education.
According to the report, nearly 98,592 schools do not have functional girls’ toilets, while 61,540 schools are without any usable toilet facility. Around 14,505 schools still lack water access, and 59,829 schools do not have handwashing facilities.
Electricity access in schools has improved significantly over the past decade, increasing from 55 per cent to 91.9 per cent. However, more than 1.19 lakh schools in the country are still functioning without electricity. The report also noted that only 51.7 per cent of government secondary schools have science laboratories.
Teacher shortages remain another major concern. The report states that 1,04,125 schools are operating with only a single teacher, with nearly 89 per cent of these schools located in rural areas. Bihar recorded the highest elementary teacher vacancies at over 2 lakh posts, followed by Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
The report further highlighted concerns over teacher competency, stating that only a small percentage of teachers could score above 70 per cent in mathematics assessments, while the average score remained at 46 per cent. It also noted that teachers lose nearly 14 per cent of teaching days due to non academic duties such as surveys, elections, and administrative work.
School dropout rates at the secondary level continue to remain high, with the national average standing at 11.5 per cent. West Bengal recorded the highest dropout rate at 20 per cent, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka at 18.3 per cent each.
The report also pointed out that India spends 4.6 per cent of its GDP on education, which is lower than several developed countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the United States.
