Haryana has good school infrastructure but lags in academics, finds survey

GURUGRAM: The thirteenth Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2018, released by NGO Pratham on January 15, has found Haryana is one of the most progressive states in providing educational infrastructure. The survey covered 15,998 schools across the country, including 613 in Haryana, which has overall done well in terms of having a playground, as well as making drinking water and toilet available in school, though the state lags in learning ability of students.

Across India, over two-thirds of schools visited had a playground inside their premises. Top states in this category include Sikkim (88%), Maharashtra (87%), Tripura (86%), Haryana (83.4%), Himachal Pradesh (83%), Gujarat (82%) and Karnataka (81%). The survey shows 88.3% schools in the state have their own offices, 79.2% have a “good” classroom-to-teacher ratio.

Sachin Khatana, a Class X student of Government Senior Secondary School, Abheypur, said, “Schools in Gurugram have huge playgrounds. I’m a soccer player and I know most school grounds in the city are big enough for the sport.” In Gujarat, Andhra, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, almost three-quarters of schools had some sports equipment. In this category, too, Haryana does fairly well with 61.2% schools having sports facilities.

However, the state lags behind in learning ability of students. In a test of whether Class V students of government schools can read texts prescribed for Class II, Himachal Pradesh excelled with 74.5%, Kerala with 73.1%, Punjab at 68.7% and Maharashtra 66.0%.

But Haryana scored a mere 58.1% in this. SCERT director Jyoti Chaudhary said, “We’re trying our best to ensure kids get all facilities they need in school. Improvement in academics is necessary and will surely come.”

The state’s students fared slightly better in mathematics, coming among top five states where Class V students were tested on their ability to do division. Himachal topped this test with 51.5%, followed by Punjab with 50.1%, Haryana with 34.4%, Kerala at 33.5% and West Bengal at 29.2%. District elementary education officer Prem Lata Yadav said, “Our teachers are working hard to ensure kids learn basic concepts. All shortcomings will be taken into account seriously.”

The survey also focused on facilities provided by schools. On schools having boundary walls, Gujarat topped with 96.3% schools having them, followed by Tamil Nadu at 96.7%, Punjab at 92.6% and Haryana at 90.8%.

Anant Vyas, coordinator of Haryana ASER, said, “We’ll not submit this report anywhere, but it’s out for all government agencies to see. The purpose of the survey is to identify areas where work needs to be done to provide quality education. Haryana has done well in providing facilities, but needs to work on improving learning ability of students.”

The survey briefly speaks on each district. In Gurugram district, 64.3% students are enrolled in private schools, compared to the entire state where the rate is 55.3%.

In the city, 75.4% students in Class V can read Class II texts, coming behind Rohtak with 76.3%.