“Lies, damned lies, and statistics”

Posted by Ninad on April 12, 2010 under All Posts | Be the First to Comment

 Mark Twain has popularized this term “Lies, damned lies and statistics”.

With the right to education at primary level becoming a fundamental right, it is interesting to see some statistics connected to primary education in India (source: HRD Ministry). So, read on…

• Total number of children in 6-14 age group in India eligible for primary education: 19 million
• Number of children in the 6-14 age group who do not go to school: 8 million
• Drop out ratios:
  • 25% by class V
  • 50% by class VIII
• Number of primary schools in India with only one teacher: 120,000

These are staggering numbers. Around 40 per cent of eligible children (8 m) do not go to school.

Here are some more statistics (source: 2008-09 District Information System for Education) of the survey of 1.29 million government and private schools.

• Over 60 per cent did not have electricity
• 46.4 per cent did not have toilets for girls
• 50 per cent did not have boundary walls to ensure safety for students.

So, will the Right to Education change all this?

The gap is so huge that no amount of legislation can change this scenario in a short span of time. It will require consistent commitment from the government and citizens to increase the access and quality of primary education.

Because of the Right to Education law, more funds will certainly get allocated to schools and it will help in raising the capacity.