NEW DELHI, 30 JAN : School education apparently comes to an end for over 16 per cent of school children studying in government schools, as the transition rate from primary to upper primary school is 83.53 per cent, according to a government report.

As per the report ~ prepared by National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) ~  to be released on 1 February, the percentage of such children, who complete class five but don’t get enrolled in class six, was the highest in Uttar Pradesh (38.5 per cent), Jharkhand (36.39 per cent) and Bihar (29 per cent) in 2008-09.

This report said the ‘apparent survival rate’ (ratio of children who stay in school system between class I and V after getting enrolled) was 78 per cent in 2009-10. But it was as low as 41 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, 56 per cent in Manipur, 58 per cent in Bihar, 62 per cent in Jharkhand, 63 per cent in Rajasthan and 69 per cent in West Bengal.

It, however, recorded increase in enrolment of Muslim children both at primary (class I-V) level at 13.48 per cent in 2009-10 from 11.03 per cent in 2008-09, and upper primary (class VI-VIII) level 11.89 per cent in 2009-10 from 9.13 percent in 2008-09.

The report recorded a negative growth in total enrolment in primary schools with the numbers dropping from from 134377324 in 2008-09 to 133405581 in 2009-10.

Nearly 80.37 per cent of the schools in the country are run by the government, it said. While enrolment in government schools dropped by over 32 lakh between 2008-09 and 2009-10, enrolment at private schools private schools witnessed an increase of over 22 lakh during the same period.

The total number of instructional days in school improved to 224 in 2009-10 from 211 in 2008-09. The percentage of primary schools with less than 200 working days was 5.92 in 2009-10. On an average 14 days were lost on account of teachers performing non-teaching jobs.

The number of districts with a pupil-teacher ratio in excess of 30 for all schools, has come down to 274 in 2009-10 from 302 in 2008-09. The percentage of schools with pupil-teacher ratio of over 60 was 12.21 in 2009-10. The percentage of schools with drinking water facility is 91.51 and the number of those with separate toilets for girls stood at 50.99.  The survey showed over nine per cent of total schools have a single teacher and 14 days were lost on account of teachers being asked to perform non-teaching jobs.

Only 16.65 per cent primary schools had a computer and 38.98 per cent of all schools covered in the survey had an electricity connection.