A government survey report has revealed that around 1,875 government-run schools in Bihar do not exist. The report says that the government's Global Positioning System, which were used toascertain the physical verification of the schools to chalk out their upgradation and modernization, have failed to locate them. M I Khan reports.
"Going by the report, most of these schools are running on papers only; they don't exist," a senior government official of the state education department said on condition of anonymity on Thursday.
The GPS survey report has also pointed that there are more than 3,000 schools
running without buildings -- most of them run under the open sky (mostly under the shade of a tree) and some at temples and in graveyards.
According to GPS report, 90 schools in Patna are also untracable. As per official record, there are more than 73,000 government schools in the state. Interestingly, officials of the education department are not ready to go on record about it.
However, it is also a fact that in Araria district, villagers have come forward to donate land for construction of buildings of 129 landless primary schools.
A district official in Araria said that at present there are 296 landless primary schools that are running under trees or on the doorstep of some villagers.
"It was revealed recently during a review of the functioning of the primary schools in the district that hundreds of the school buildings are not being constructed because lack of land, and the schemes for constructing school building are gathering dust for years," the official said.
The district administration has appealed to the people to donate land for the construction of primary schools in their respective villages. But the story does not end in Araria; similar poor condition of schools is reported from all 38 districts of the state.
For instance, one school in Patna is run in a single rented room, and three other schools are being run in two-room buildings.
