Even govt schools in metros lack basic facilities

NEW DELHI: They aim to be Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, but our metros are no better than remote villages in Jehanabad (Bihar) and Koraput (Orissa). Hordes of students pass out every year from government-run schools in metros. But only 30-35% manage to score 60% and above marks. And most teachers possess just secondary school degrees - even those teaching at the higher secondary level.
These are the findings of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) on the state of elementary education in the country for 2003-04, the third year of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the government''s flagship programme on elementary education.
In Mumbai, only 46% of the primary schools had drinking water facility. In Bangalore, although water taps are not dry, 18% of primary schools are still running from a single classroom, 12.8% have just one teacher, 44% still don''t have separate toilets for girls. Kolkata is even worse. Only 22% schools have girls'' toilets, 12% schools are still have one classroom with a single teacher running the show.
Koraput, one of the most backward districts in the country, is only one notch up on this. It has 13% single-room schools. Jehanabad, another backward district, has 11% such schools.
In terms of teacher availability, Koraput scores better. There are only 5% schools with a single teacher. But one thing that Kolkata has managed to put in schools are enough blackboards, which 14% primary schools in Mumbai and 10% schools in Bangalore still lack.
Chennai is doing better: more blackboards, water taps and classrooms than in Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai.
In 2003-04, there were 205 primary school teachers in Mumbai who had not completed the secondary level, 3,835 were secondary school pass, 1,799 went up to higher secondary, 3,230 were graduates and 711 were post-graduates.