The good and the bad in Bengal’s primary education

The good and the bad in Bengal’s primary education

News:

1. A recent report titled “Primary Education in West Bengal: The Scope for Change” by Pratichi Institute highlights the achievements and failures of primary education in West Bengal

Important Facts:

Major Highlights of the Report

2. Success

• Access to primary education “has increased substantially”
• Pupil-teacher ratio has improved dramatically to 23:1

3. Issues:

• Uneven distribution of resources:
• Great variations in pupil-teacher ratio: varies from 14:1 to 44:1. This is primarily due to administrative failure to rationalize the distribution of teachers across government schools.
• Increase in single teacher schools- 3.3% in 2014-15 to 4% in 2015-16
• Lack of government-run-primary school in many villages (847)
• Deficit allocation of fund for midday meals
• Poor academic planning
• Increasing number of private tuitions