Students deserting government schools

KURNOOL: The number of students in government schools in Kurnool district is going down every year. Quality of education leaves much to be desired for want of facilities and adequate number of teachers, as a result of which parents are opting for private schools for their children. Even poor students are going the private school way.As per the Right to Education Act, there should be one teacher for every 30 students, one room for every class and one teacher for each subject. Every school must have a computer lab and a science lab, besides power supply and drinking water. The Act also stipulates that the school premises must be enclosed by a compound wall.However, neither the facilities nor the required number of teachers are found at most of the 2,707 schools in the district. Nearly 60 percent of the schools do not have adequate number of class rooms, 40 percent do not have subject-wise teachers and there is no drinking water facility at 55 percent of the schools. As high as 67 percent of the schools do not have toilets, 70 percent do not have full-fledged labs, no power supply for 63 percent and 85 percent of the schools do not have compound walls.There is a requirement of 4,000 teachers in the district. Now, Telugu medium teachers are also taking classes for English medium at many schools. Out of the 309 schools where there is computer education, 60 percent are not offering computer classes.The result is that parents are admitting their children in private schools. While there were total 4,20,789 students in government schools in the district in 2008-09, there were 4,03,667 in 2009-10. The number came down to 3,97,157 the next year, and this year, there are only 3,91,235 students. Education department officials are apprehensive that many government schools will have to be closed in about 10 years if this trend continues.Of the 2,707 government schools in the district, 1,887 are primary, 448 upper primary and the rest are high schools. There are less than 30 students each in 207 primary and four upper primary schools. As many as 45 schools have fewer than 10 students each. The government, which proposed to close down those schools, withdrew the idea following protests from the teaching community.As for the standard of education, it is observed that 5o percent of the students do not know tables even at fifth class. Teachers admit that many could not add or subtract either.