Rediseño de los procesos según la norma sanitaria de Análisis de Peligros y

of investment and

improvement in school

infrastructure.

TABLE 3.2

Drop-out rates among primary and upper primary schoolchildren

Category Primary (I to V) Primary and Upper Primary (I to VIII)

2001–02 2005–06 2001–02 2005–06

All 50.4 11.6 67.9 21.4

Scheduled Castes 45.7 10.3 65.7 20.7

Scheduled Tribes 65.4 13.8 78.6 27.6

BOX 3.3

School Enrolment

Data from the village surveys on school enrolment (Table 1) show that universal enrolment in the age group 6–14 years has been achieved in one survey village (West Muhuripur), and that the level of enrolment in all three villages in the age group 6–11 years and 11–14 years is significantly higher than the corresponding figures for rural India reported in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). In the 15–17-year age group the most striking feature is a very sharp fall-off in school enrolment among girls in the predominantly Scheduled Tribe forest village of Khakchang. A comparison with school enrolment data from the Census of India 2001 shows similar results: achievement in all three villages is well above all-India levels and West Muhuripur has achieved universal enrolment (Table 2). An encouraging feature of the data is that Khakchang, which is well below India averages with respect to literacy, performs far better than rural India as a whole in respect of enrolment in the age group 6–14 years.

Table 2

Proportion of children in the age group 6–14 years currently attending school, by social group, in West Muhuripur, Mainama and Khakchang villages, 2005, and rural India, 2001(in per cent)

West Muhuripur, South District

Social group Proportion of children in the age group 6 to 14 years attending school Female Male All children

Scheduled Tribe 100 100 100

All persons 100 100 100

Mainama, Dhalai

Social group Proportion of children in the age group 6 to 14 years attending school Female Male All children

Scheduled Tribe 89 84 87

All persons 91 86 89

Khakchang (forest village), North District

Social group Proportion of children in the age group 6 to 14 years attending school Female Male All children

Scheduled Tribe 81 95 88

All persons 79 95 87

Rural India

Social group Proportion of children in the age group 6 to 14 years attending school Female Male All children

Scheduled Tribe 52 64 58

All persons 63 72 68

Table 1

Proportion of children attending school, by sex and age group, West Muhuripur, Mainama and Khakchang villages, 2005 and rural India, 1998–99

Age group West Muhuripur

(in years) Boys Girls Children

6 to 10 100 100 100

11 to 14 100 100 100

15 to 17 85.2 94.7 89.1

Age group Mainama

(in years) Boys Girls Children

6 to 10 93.2 89.8 91.3

11 to 14 78.6 92.5 85.4

15 to 17 84.2 89.3 86.4

Age group Khakchang

(in years) Boys Girls Children

6 to 10 91.9 81.8 86.4

11 to 14 100.0 73.7 88.9

15 to 17 76.2 25.0 54.1

Age group Rural India*

(in years) Boys Girls Children

11 to 14 83.2 75.1 79.3

15 to 17 78.5 61.6 70.4

54.8 32.8 44.0

* National Family Health Survey 1998–99.

had a lavatory. In 2002, 19 per cent of primary schools had urinals and 11 per cent had lavatories. Most of the schools in Tripura did not have separate toilet facilities for girls. In 2002, 36 per cent of urban primary schools and 10 per cent of rural pri- mary schools had separate lavatories for girls. There was a small improve- ment in this regard during the 1990s. An important gap in school infra- structure is in respect of provision of basic teaching aids. In 2005–06, 32 per cent of schools in Dhalai, 16 per cent in North District and 12 per cent in South District did not have even a blackboard. West District was the notable exception. In respect of seve- ral components of school infrastruc- ture, North District and Dhalai are much worse off than South and West Districts.

To sum up, there has been im- provement in the provision of basic school infrastructure in the 1990s, particularly in respect of school build- ings and drinking water facilities. Official data indicate big improve- ments in infrastructure in the last four to five years, in respect of pucca school buildings, drinking water and toilet facilities. While Tripura is now ahead of the national average in respect of some indicators such as number of classrooms per school or number of schools with at least one teacher, it lags behind in some other respects (e.g., provision of drinking water, toilets for girls and electricity connections). Also, lacunae remain, such as in respect of basic teaching aids. Further, there is large inter- district disparity in school infrastruc- ture. In Dhalai, only 49 per cent of primary schools had drinking water facilities in 2005–06, while the corresponding proportion in South District was 95 per cent. Similarly,

only 34 per cent of schools in North District and Dhalai had toilets; the corresponding proportion was 99.8 per cent in South District.

Inadequacy of teachers

An essential requirement of a school is good teachers and good teaching. Aggregate statistics at the State, dis- trict and block levels suggest that there are adequate numbers of school teachers in Tripura. At the State level, Tripura had, on average, one primary school teacher for every twenty-three children of 6–10 years of age. There were only ten blocks in which there were more than thirty children per primary school teacher.4 _{A compari-} son with the national norm of one teacher for forty children suggests that there are adequate numbers of teachers at the primary school level in Tripura.

The disaggregated data, however, bring out a different picture and show that the norm is not met in all individual schools. The structure of habitations is such that a large number of schools are small and far removed from each other. Such schools require a minimum number of teachers to be deployed irrespective of the number of children enrolled in the school. Further, if one assumes that the presence of female teachers in schools helps the enrolment of girls, the number of women teachers in Tripura needs to be enhanced as only 18 per cent of primary school teachers in 2002 were women.

4_{We have analysed the number of primary} school teachers in relation to the population of children in the age group 6-–10 years, and not in relation to the number of children attending schools in 2001. This has been done to evalu- ate whether the current strength of primary school teachers will be adequate if all children were attending school.

A comparison with the