Gross Enrollment, Pupil-Teacher Ratio Show Improvement In 2019-20: Govt Report

Only 39 per cent of schools in the country are equipped with computers. Meanwhile, only 22 per cent had access to an internet connection. The data has been revealed in the latest UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education) report for 2019-2020 by the central government on school education in India.

For government schools, only 29 per cent of schools had functional computer facilities, and about 12 per cent of schools had internet available, as per the report.

It is important to take into consideration that there has been an improvement over the previous year—with 6 per cent improvement in the availability of computer facilities and 3.5 per cent in internet connectivity.

Improvement In Total Enrollment

The total enrollment from primary to higher-level education was over 25.09 crore. Enrolment for boys was 13.01 crore and that of the girls was 12.08 crore.

As per the report, the total enrollment increased by over 26 lakh when compared to 2018-19. In 2019-20, enrollment of girls from primary to higher secondary witnessed an increase of 14.08 lakh from the previous year.

Even the Gender Parity Index (GPI) at both secondary and higher secondary levels have shown improvement.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) compares the enrolment in a specific level of education to the population of the age group which is age-appropriate for that level of education.

The GER grew to 89.7 per cent at the upper primary level, with GER of girls increasing to 90.5 per cent (from 88.5 per cent). At the secondary and higher level, GER grew to 77.9 and 51.4 per cent, respectively.

In girls, GER stood at 77.8 per cent at the secondary level and 52.4 per cent at the higher secondary level.

Improvement in Student-Teacher Ratio

The report said that number of teachers increased to 96.87 lakh in 2019-20 as compared to 2018-19. Consequently, the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) has improved across all levels.

"A reduction in the PTR indicates that one teacher has to teach less number of children, resulting in improvement in quality of teaching," the report said. For primary education, PTR stands at 26.5, which was 34.0 in 2012-13. In 2019, PTR for upper primary and secondary has become 18.5, and PTR for higher secondary has become 26.1.

Data On Other Facilities

Basic facilities like toilets, handwash, and electricity have improved considerably in the period from 2012-13 to 2019-20.

90.2 per cent of schools had handwashing facilities in 2019-20, which stood at a mere 36.3 per cent in 2012-13.

In 2019-20, 83.4 per cent of schools had electricity which increased from 54.6 per cent in 2012-13.

In the same period toilets for boys in schools increased from 67.8 per cent to 95.9 per cent. Meanwhile, for girls, 96.8 per cent of schools had toilets compared to 88.7 per cent in 2012-13.

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