Around 34,000 Schools Lacks Toilet, Drinking Facilities In Odisha

As many as 90 schools in Odisha lack blackboards and 34,394 schools had no access to toilets and drinking water facilities till Mast last year, the state assembly was informed on Wednesday.

School and Mass Education Minister - Samir Ranjan Dash in the state assembly further said that around 35,769 schools had no electricity till the financial year of 2018-19.

He added that around 37,645 schools in the state do not have playgrounds, 2,451 schools have no library facility and 16,368 schools does not have boundary walls.

Apart from the schools run by the school and mass education department, the state has institutes managed by the SC & ST department.

There are also government-aided schools under private management but the minister's written reply did not specify under which category these schools were.

However, the minister said that around 51,434 primary, upper primary and higher secondary schools - run by the school and mass education department - had drinking water facilities.

In another reply, the minister said that the annual average dropout rate in primary schools in the state was 5.42 per cent, whereas it was 6.93 per cent in upper primary. The dropout rate in secondary schools was 5.41 per cent.

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