Gloom In The Classroom: The Schooling Crisis In Jharkhand
Following the pandemic, attendance of students in Jharkhand schools dropped to 58 per cent at the upper primary level and 68 per cent at the primary level, according to a survey ‘Gloom in the Classroom: The Schooling Crisis in Jharkhand’ conducted by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand.
- The report, prepared by economist Jean Dreze and researcher Paran Amitava slammed “decades of state apathy” towards education in the state and said it was “both a mistake and an injustice”.
Key findings of the report:
- The survey showed that underprivileged and tribal children were left abandoned by the Education Department.
- Out of the 138 schools surveyed for the report, 20 per cent had a single teacher.
- At 55 per cent, para-teachers (teachers who are not qualified to teach) accounted for the majority of teachers at the primary level in these schools. At the upper-primary level, the figure was 37 per cent.
- Not one of the schools surveyed had a functional toilet, electricity, or water supply.
- Around 66 per cent of the primary schools had no boundary wall, 64 per cent did not have a playground and 37 per cent had no library books.
- The majority of the teachers said that the school did not have adequate funds for the midday meals
