Bhubaneswar: The state government, Wednesday, in the Assembly accepted the fact that thousands of schools in the state are running without providing the basic facility of toilets.
The admissions were made on record by the School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash who furnished statistics relating to the status of the education in the state and also the steps taken by the government to improve the government education system.
Earlier Umakanta Samantray, a member of the House asked the government about the civic amenities provided to the students and the existing infrastructure. The minister shared several statistics relating to the basic amenities and also talked about the issue of drop outs.
According to the data shared by the minister there are a total of 34,394 schools which do not have toilets while a massive 37,645 schools do not provide the children with the facility of a playground. Moreover, the minister also states a startling fact that a total of 90 schools are working without a blackboard.
The minister with his data also hinted that the maximum dropouts in the state are reported from the upper primary schools which stood at 6.93 per cent annually while it was 5.42 per cent for primary classes and 5.41 per cent for secondary schools.
The minister informed the House that the state government has been taking special efforts to tackle the issue of dropouts and improving facilities. Dash said that provision for residential hostels, free text books and uniforms besides the provision of segregated toilets and transportation allowance for students are been taken to improve education and reduce dropouts.
Data suggeststhat the maximum dropout in the state in primary education was reported from Raygada with 11.67 percent while Malkangiri reported the maximum dropout of 13.78 per cent was observed in upper primary schools.