Ram Rattan Sharma
India lives in villages. The number of rural students attending schools is, increasing and 96 percent of children in the age group of 6-14 are enrolled in schools. The foundation to turn India into a strong nation has to be laid down at primary and rural levels so the quality of education right from the beginning should be excellent. Right to Education Act passed in 2009 made education a fundamental right of every Indian citizen. India with more than a billion residents, has the second largest education system in the world after China. Experts say that 32 percent of its current population is under the age of 15 years . Education system has a great challenge to provide quality education especially in rural areas.
Main infrastructural bottlenecks in rural schools that can be worked upon to improve education in rural areas are: school buildings, furniture, text books, libraries, laboratories, uniforms mid day meals. All class rooms need refurbishing or upgrading to acceptable minimum standards for learning. India need almost more than a million new class rooms, largely in rural and marginalized areas to accommodate those who are not in schools and properly accommodate those students already studying in schools. More classrooms will alleviate overcrowding and cut class sizes .Central Board of Secondary Education prescribes the minimum infrastructure required in schools. The school must have about two acres as otherwise permitted measurement of land and building constructed on a part of land and proper play ground on the remaining land, the school should have a well equipped and spacious library with minimum of 1500 books and atleast 15 magazines, the school should have atleast 1 computer, lab with minimum 10 computers, Adequate facilities should be provided for recreational activities and physical education, as well as for conduct of various activities and programmes for the social cultural, physical and moral development of students and for safeguarding their health. Separate physics, chemistry, bio labs, for senior secondary should be available, separate toilet block for boys and toilets for girls be installed as per norms, safe drinking water source inside school premises is mandatory.
Small schools are a significant feature of the educational landscape in india, with approximately 78 percent of primary schools having three or fewer teachers to attend to all grade levels. If the quality and commitment alongwith number of teachers can be improved in these schools, then aspiring rural children can fulfill their dreams of doing something great. Some Govt. schools in rural India are overly packed with students leading to a destroyed teacher student ratio. It is difficult for teachers to pay full attention towards each and every student. The pupil to teacher ratio in primary and upper primary schools in India was 28:1 and 30:1 respectively in 2013-2014. The Right to Education Act recommends a PTR of 30:1 for primary classes and 35:1 for upper primary classes.
The lack of proper connectivity makes it difficult to reach school. Students need to cross the rivers, dense forests and difficult terrain or to cycle or walk a considerable distance, through narrow muddy paths and wading across streams to reach the school, in difficult weather condition. Schools in high reaches, deserts, far flung areas of North east and Jammu and Kashmir are often closed due to accessibility issues . The Govt. should formulate a proposal for providing the road connections to these areas. Adequate sanitary facilities and water for hygiene are also lacking in rural schools. The health implications of inadequate toilets and sanitation can be serious. Electricity and internet are essential requirements to meet the high education standards. Electricity has not reached to the many remote areas, frequent electricity cuts make it difficult to use electricity operated educational tools in the school. In rural India, people struggle to meet their basic needs. If the rural infrastructure are developed to reduce the unemployment level and income of people is increased, people in rural India will automatically be encouraged to send their children to schools.
Schools are the temples of learning. Education transforms lives and it is mandatory to build peace, eradicate poverty and drive sustainable development. Students of rural schools are very talented. They know how to survive in even very harsh situations. They know amazing variety of things. Many children here have amazing skills. Thus infrastructures have to be upgraded to provide all important forms of learning. Ensuring quality education of all children especially in rural area should be highest priority of Govt. Emphasis should be on providing infrastructural support to all existing schools and to ensure quality education rather than increasing the number of schools. Needless to say that Govt’s initiative to provide infrastructural support has improved the situation. Effective implementation of its various schemes for the elementary stage and for secondary level will ensure quality education to millions of children in rural areas.
(The author is former Dy Librarian University of Jammu)
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