RTE Infrastructure Lacks In Almost 95% Of Schools

Since two years after Right To Education (RTE) Act came into force, more than 95% of schools across India still don't comply with RTE standards for Infrastructure. A review of the legislation's implementation by the Right To Education Forum, a civil society collective comprising around 10,000 NGO's and three networks, has shown that while some progress has been made in implementing the act, it is far from adequate.

The study report reveals that 95.2% of schools are not complaint with the complete set of RTE infrastructure indicators, and in 2009-10 only 4.8% of government schools had all infrastructure facilities stipulated under the RTE Act. Under the act, schools must have basic infrastructure facilities like an all-weather building with at least one classroom for every teacher and an office for the head teacher.

The report, however shows that one in 10 schools lack drinking water facilities, 40% lack of functional common toilet while another 40% lack a separate toilet for girl students. Around 60% of schools are not electrified and only one in every five schools has a computer. Also, 40% of primary schools have a student classroom ratio higher than 1:30.

It is March 2013, the time stipulated under the act to achieve infrastructure and other requirements like teacher student ratio and teacher qualification standards. The forum members add that monitoring the work is in the domain of the national and state commissions for protection of child rights. However, only 21 states have constituted State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR's) or the Right To Education Protection Authority (REPA).

States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa have especially large pools of unqualified teachers, which directly impacts the quality of school education. When compared with 2010 things have become too worse, when 91% of teachers failed to clear the National Teacher eligibility Test (TET)- the latest figure stands at 93%.