In the Urdu Primary School of Gaunpura village in Patna, as soon as the bell announces the lunch break, the girl students step out of the school boundary in an unnatural rush, heading home to attend nature’s call. This may sound bizarre to a student in a metropolitan city which nowadays flaunts a long list of schools offering ‘five star’ facilities but for hundreds of students in Bihar this is the reality. As the school does not have land of its own, it is deprived of the basic toilet facilities as well!
This is a sobering narrative of Bihar’s education system and of course, not a case in isolation. That it is the situation in a school located near the State capital could very well reflect on the situation of remotely located schools across Bihar.
The situation in Korji Village Secondary School, three kilometres from Gaunpura, is even worse. This school has only a handful of girl students. In the absence of toilets and female teachers, parents do not encourage their girls to get enrolled here. Similarly, when Gaunpura’s Government Primary School accommodates students from Classes I to V in a single room — the possibility of a toilet is a lot more far-fetched.
A toilet for a girl student is essential both in terms of security and hygiene. In the absence of toilets and hand pumps in the school premises, the children are forced to go to their houses where they usually stay back for an hour or two to help their parents in daily chores or have an afternoon nap. This adversely affects whatever little education they get in the school.
As far as the construction of toilets in schools is concerned, the Bihar government is yet to follow a Supreme Court order dated October 18, 2011, that directed all States and Union Territories to build toilets, particularly for girls, in all government schools by the end of November 2011. However, the Bihar government has taken successful strides at raising the level of awareness of education across the State with initial efforts being were directed towards achieving success in the enrolment and now the target has shifted to improving the quality of education in the schools. Several schemes have been launched recently to make people aware of the benefits of education and include children from remotest part of Bihar into the development fold.
As a result of schemes like the Mid-Day Meal and Chief Minister’s Bicycle Scheme, there has also been a huge increase in the enrolment of girl students. It has been found, however, that the pace at which the numbers of students increased in Bihar’s schools is inversely proportional to the standard of education in the State.
According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, every school must have one teacher for every 30 students, a minimum of one teacher for each class, separate toilet facilities for boys and girls, kitchen, and library among other facilities. Bihar is yet to fulfil these criteria. According to this year’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 96.4 per cent schools of Bihar lack proper teacher-student ratio, in 37 per cent schools, there are no separate toilet facilities and 40 per cent schools don’t have libraries.
Amidst all the rejoicing, it is also true that since 2007, the number of enrolments is declining. There was a time when students from Madarpur Delha, Bijubigaha, Sengra, Nav Dharia and Bhendia villages would attend school in Nanaunk Government Secondary School with 60 per cent of the total student population being girls. But in the absence of toilets and proper studies, parents have become reluctant to send their daughters to school. The situation with Nav Dharia and Bhendia Primary Schools is similar, where children have stopped attending classes as their mid-day meals were stopped long ago.
The quality of education is even more miserable. Government-appointed teachers are mostly not fit for the job with a large section of rural students relying on private tuitions. Most of the students who have cleared the primary examination were found unable to even read a book of Class II.
In Bihar, providing land for construction of schools, quality education and equal opportunities for all students has always been a matter of concern. Looking into the realities of education after about two years of the RTE Act’s implementation, the situation of education in Bihar is still lagging behind many other States. (Charkha Features)
