As per a report by Unified District Information System for Education, a total of 6,106 government schools in Himachal Pradesh have less than 20 students in primary and middle schools. The number ranges between 21-60 in 4,478 primary and 895 middle schools and 61 to 100 in 681 primary and 47 middle schools, as stated in a report by PTI.
Among the 18,028 schools in the state, 15,313 are run by the government. As per the report, there are 65,973 teachers in government schools among which, 39,906 are male and 26,257 are female.
Report findings about teachers in schools:
Primary schools: As many as 12 primary government schools are being run without a teacher while 2,969 have one teacher, 5,533 have two teachers and 1,779 have three teachers
Middle schools: Similarly, 51 are being run by a single teacher, 416 by two teachers, 773 by three teachers and 701 by four to six teachers
Secondary school: One school with a minimum of ten classes is being run by two teachers, ten schools by three teachers, 212 by four to six teachers and 710 by seven to ten teachers
Senior Secondary school: 22 schools are being run with four to six teachers, 189 with seven to ten teachers, 684 with 11 to 15 teachers and 981 schools have more than 15 teachers
Other findings
Despite having 63,690 rooms in government schools, here are a few details which highlight the schools' infrastructure.
Primary schools: Seven without a room, 338 are running in one room, 2,495 in two rooms, 4,111 in three rooms and 3,402 in seven to ten rooms
Middle schools: Three are without a room, 216 have only one room, 241 are running in two rooms,1,111 in three rooms and 352 in four to six rooms
Secondary schools: Six are being run in one room, 25 in two rooms, 117 in three rooms, 697 in four to six rooms and 74 in seven to ten rooms
Senior Secondary school: One is being run in a single room, seven in two rooms, 17 in three rooms, 245 in four to six rooms, 947 in seven to ten rooms, 454 in 11 to 15 rooms and only 205 schools have more than 15 rooms
Right to Education Act
As per this act, one primary school should be there within 1.5 km for school-going children. But the tough demography and topography in the hill state have changed the dynamics of its working partner which resulted in low strength of students. But still, they have to be taught. However, the rationalism of teachers is an issue, officials in the education department said.
Further, they said, the student-teacher ratio is 14.68 in the primary section, 12.09 in middle schools, 10.38 in secondary and 12.31 in senior secondary schools. In primary, middle and secondary levels the general enrollment is 100 per cent or above. And in the senior secondary levels, it is 90 per cent.
Talking about dropout level, they said it is zero per cent at the primary and elementary levels and 1.47 per cent at the secondary level. Further, the report observed that the state government's efforts to shift students from government to private schools have yielded results as enrollment in government schools has increased by 37,952 during 2021-2022. In contrast, enrollment in all schools in the state registered an insignificant decrease of 1,067 as compared to a drop of 26,154 in 2020-21.
The total enrollment in all schools dropped from 13,33,315 to 13,32,148 but the enrollment in 15,313 government schools stood at 8,31,310 in 2021-22 compared to 7.93,358 in the previous year.
Sharing his views, Director of Higher Education Amarjeet Sharma informed that the Har Ghar Patshala initiative introduced during the pandemic and the use of information and communication technology in government schools has brought them at par with the private sector and we are now focusing on academics, sports and co-curricular activities for the overall development of the children.
Further, the high fee structure during the pandemic in private schools also compelled parents to shift to government schools, he added.
