More teachers, better access, fewer pupils: India’s govt school paradox

Schools are back in focus. In larger policy discussions and political debates. The Opposition, emboldened by its NEET protest victory, is looking to up the ante by exposing ramshackle school infrastructure in different states, starting with Rajasthan. TOI ground reports, too, have found gross inadequacies in government schools across different parts of the state. Particularly jarring is the fact that in Kota, widely called the coaching capital of India, many government schools are in a dilapidated state.A wider ground report by TOI reporters across the country found that Rajasthan was hardly an outlier. In Bihar, nearly 200 children from four classes were sharing a single room at one school while cattle occupied two others. In Uttarakhand, leaking roofs meant buckets and umbrellas had become classroom fixtures. In Madhya Pradesh, TOI found schools struggling with teacher shortages and unsafe buildings.