Over 20,000 Schools Closed In India During 2020-21, 66% Had No Internet In 2021-22, Says Report

The pandemic exposed one of our education system's most significant flaws. As crores of students were forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it also created two kinds of students - those who could afford online classes and those who had no resources to access lessons virtually.

The lack of digital devices like laptops, tablets, or mobile phones and poor network connectivity meant that many students, especially in rural areas, could not attend classes online.

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What makes things worse is that even now, many schools across the country don't have such facilities.

Only 34 per cent schools had internet

The Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report on school education in India for 2021-22 found that only 44.85 per cent of schools had computer facilities, while nearly 34 per cent had an internet connection.

Out of the 14,89,115 schools in the country, only 6,82,566 had computers, while 5,04,989 of them had internet connectivity, the report released by the Union education ministry on Thursday said.

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Only 2.2 per cent schools with digital library

It further said that only 2.2% of the schools had digital libraries and that only 14.9% of them had "smart classrooms" used for teaching with digital boards, smart boards, and smart TVs.

The report highlighted 10.6% of the schools did not have electricity and 23.04% were without playgrounds. As many as 12.7% did not have libraries and reading rooms.

Schools shut down in India

Another concerning finding in the report is the high number of schools that have shut down in recent years.

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More than 20,000 schools shut down across the country during 2020-21, while the number of teachers also declined by 1.95 per cent compared to the previous year, it said.

"Total number of schools in 2021-22 stood at 14.89 lakhs as compared to 15.09 lakhs in 2020-21. The decline in total schools is mainly due to closure of schools under private and other management," said the report.

Teachers declined by 19.5 per cent

According to the report, the total number of teachers also declined by 1.95 per cent in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21. It said that the total number of teachers in 2021-22 was 95.07 lakh, decreasing from 97.87 lakh in 2020-21.

"The percentage of teachers teaching only primary (34.4 pc in 2021-22 from 35.4m pc in 2020-21) and only upper primary (18.9 pc in 2021-22 from 21.5 pc in 2020-21) has reduced.

The decrease in teachers during 2021-22 as against previous year was 0.9 pc in government schools, 1.45 pc in government-aided schools, 2.94 pc in private schools and 8.3 pc in other schools, it said.

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