Punjab tops in school infrastructure

New Delhi, February 2
In the latest Education Development Index (EDI) rankings released by the Government yesterday, Haryana is the only state to have slipped. This index reflects the gains made by states and UTs on the parameters of school accessibility, infrastructure provision, teacher facility and outcomes in terms of retention, dropout rate and percentage of children who secure 60 per cent or more marks at the primary and upper primary level school examinations, among others. This is an yearly exercise conducted by the National University of Educational Planning and administration (NUEPA), the District Information System for Education Report for 2009-2010 - is extensive as it contains data from 1.3 million recognised primary and upper primary schools imparting elementary education in 635 districts in 35 states and UTs. The report also shows that 41 per cent of all schools still do not have separate toilets for girls. Over all, just 54 per cent schools have common toilets.

In this age of IT, only 16 per cent of the schools have computer facilities. The highest percentage of computer facilities being in Chandigarh (90 pc schools) and Delhi (82 per cent schools). As far as enrolment is concerned, Uttar Pradesh has surprisingly contributed to the decreasing number, having lost three lakh students at primary level in the past three years. The state has ordered an investigation into where these students went. For all the other states, the enrolments have improved.

Most of the top rankers have retained their previous year’s slots, with Puducherry topping the list, followed by Lakshadweep and Kerala. Haryana, which was fourth in the all-India rankings in 2008-2009, has slipped to number 11. It is however among the better states in facilities, accessibility and outcomes.

Tamil Nadu has held its number five position in the overall EDI (where data for both primary and upper primary education is computed) ranking, while Punjab has lost a rank from the earlier survey and slipped to number 7. Similarly, Himachal has also lost marginally by ending 17th in the rankings as compared to 16th in the previous survey.

Chandigarh, however, has sprung a pleasant surprise by gaining four ranks and attaining the number six position as compared to the 10th slot it earlier held. It ranks third in India when it comes to teacher ranking under the EDI. This ranking is worked out on the basis of the percentage of schools with two or more teachers; percentage of schools with pupil-teacher ratio less than 40 and percentage of qualified teachers. It is also strong on infrastructure (comprising the maximum) 12 classrooms per primary school in India as against a low of 2 in Bihar.

On the specific infrastructure ranking under the overall EDI, Punjab is on the top in India, followed by Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.