There was no increase in enrolment in private schools across the country in the last two years even as the enrolment in government-run schools in Kerala and Gujarat increased significantly, according to a report.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016, an annual household survey in rural India that focuses on the status of children's schooling and basic learning, was released here today.
According to the report, the proportion of children, aged 6 to 14, enrolled in private schools remained almost unchanged at 30.5 per cent in 2016 as compared to 30.8 per cent in 2014.
"The gender gap in private school enrolment has decreased slightly in both 7-10 and 11-14 age group. In 2014, among children aged 11 to 14, the gap between boys and girls enrolment in private school was 7.6 per cent. In 2016, this gap decreased to 6.9 per cent," the report said.
Two states that showed significant increase in government school enrolment were Kerala where enrolments increased from 40.6 per cent in 2014 to 49.9 per cent in 2016. In Gujarat, this proportion increased from 79.2 pc to 86 per cent.
The overall enrolment in schools, which has been 96 per cent above since 2009, increased from 96.7 per cent in 2014 to 96.9 per cent in 2016.
"Nationally, the reading ability has also improved, especially in early grades in private schools, from 40.2 per cent to 42.5 per cent. Arithmetic has also shown improvement in government schools in primary grades," the report said.
The survey was conducted by NGO Pratham in 17,473
villages, covering more than 5.6 lakh children in the age group of 3 to 16.
The attendance of children and the ability to read English in the lower primary grades also remained unchanged during the period.
"The proportion of 'small schools' in the government primary school sector continues to grow. The percentage of multi-grade classrooms has also increased," the report said.
The survey also noted that there has been significant progress in the availability of useable toilets.
"The proportion of schools where girls' toilets were available and usable has gone up from 32.9 per cent in 2010 to 55.7 per cent in 2014 to 61.9 per cent in 2016. In Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, 80 per cent or more schools had usable girls' toilets," it said.
While drinking water was available in 74.1 per cent schools, down from 75.6 per cent in 2014, there has been no change in availability of computers in schools since 2014.
"The proportion of schools with libraries has fallen from 78.1 per cent in 2014 to 75.5 per cent in 2016. However, children were seen using library books in more schools in 2016," the report said.
