Schools without teachers and Teachers sans students

As many as 5774 primary schools in Andhra Pradesh do not have even a single teacher and there are as many as 3193 schools with less than ten students in each.

Disclosing this here today, Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today said that the data eloquently testified to the incompetent and irrational administration of education in the State.

What is more shocking is that that as many as 399 schools with not a single teacher have more than 100 students each and 1562 schools have less than five students each.

Talking to the media on the Legislative Assembly premises, Dr. JP pointed out successive Governments’ callous attitude towards primary education in the public sector has been forcing the poor like daily wage earners and vegetable vendors to send their wards to private schools. They shell out a huge portion of their hard earned income on private school education in the belief they will get better education.

Dr. JP charged that successive Governments have chosen to keep the poor children illiterate or semi literate or poorly educated to serve their narrow interests. After all education empowers people and enables them to conquer poverty and fight corrupt governments.

As of now, tens of thousands of children are condemned to a life of poverty and drudgery for no fault of theirs except the accident of the womb. As there are too many schools with too few children, the schools and the teachers get away without any monitoring worth the name.

Dr. JP demanded that the Government shed its apathy and negligence at least now and restructure primary education ensuring that there are at least 20000 well-equipped schools with 100 children and five teachers each. As of now there are 56963 schools with 27 lakh students on rolls and 111000 teachers.

Dr. JP said that the State Government had displayed its ineptness even in utilizing funds granted by the Government of India. The State could spend only Rs.400 crore of the Rs.1100 crore earmarked for Sarva Siksha Abhiyan last year as it could not contribute its share for the Centrally-sponsored scheme. The State will in all probability utilize only Rs.600 crore of the Rs.1800 crore available under the Sarva Siksha and Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyans this year.