FACILITIES
10.1 Library SCHOOL library is an integral part of the school education. It supplements classroom teaching and is essential for the efficient functioning of every school. A well equipped library helps in encouraging literary and cultural interests in students. But the position of school libraries in our country is not very satisfactory. A large number of schools, particularly primary schools, do not have a library at all. As many as 3,65,609 schools out of 6,34,144 are functioning without a library. Of these, majority is of course, of primary schools. Not only this, many school libraries do not have sufficient number of books.
10.1.1 Primary schools Out of 4,74,636 primary schools only 1,39,986 (29.49%) have got library in them. The corresponding percentage for the Third Survey was 32.41. The percentage of primary schools with library in rural and urban areas is 28.02 and 44.25, respectively. This clearly indicates the superiority of urban schools over rural ones in terms of availability of library in primary schools.
Considering management-wise it is observed that the schools under private aided management have an edge over schools managed by other agencies. While the percentage of schools having a library is highest among private aided ones (46.38%), the schools under local bodies have the lowest percentage i.e. 27.88.
STATEMENT 10.1
Percentage of primary schools according to number of books in the library in rural and urban
areas
Percentage of schools
Area Having With number of books
library 1-50 51-100 101-200 Above 200
1 2 3 4 5 6
Rural 28.02 44.73 23.69 19.06 12.51
Urban 44.25 20.44 20.11 23.59 35.86
Total 29.49 41.43 23.20 19.68 15.69
164 FOURTH ALL-INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
STATEMENT 10.2
Percentage of primary schools according to number of books in the library under various
managements
Percentage of schools
Management Having With number of books
library 1-50 51-100 101-200 Above 200
1 2 3 4 5 6
Government 29.71 45.32 22.45 19.01 13.23
Local body 27.88 40.80 23.81 19.67 15.71
Private aided 46.38 30.70 24.34 22.97 21.99
Private unaided 32.89 15.73 17.66 21.84 44.77
Total 29.49 41.43 23.20 19.68 15.69
Among the States, Haryana (87.39%) and Tamil Nadu (81.76%) have library in more than 80% of the schools whereas Assam (3.98%), Madhya Pradesh (6.61%), Manipur (8.98%), Madhya Pradesh (9.08%) and West Bengal (6.02%) have a library in less than 10% of the schools. None of the schools in Nagaland has reported about the availability of this facility. Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh (92.31%) has the highest percentage of schools having library followed by Delhi (90.37%), A & N Islands (88.75%) and Goa, Daman & Diu (87.91%). Dadra & Nagar Haveli (14.93%) has the lowest percentage.
It has been mentioned earlier that only a small fraction of primary schools numbering 1,39,986 have library facility in them. Of these, 90,473 (64.63%) have less than 100 books, and among these, 57,990 (41.43%) schools have only up to 50 hooks. The proportion of schools with more than 200 books in the library is only 15.69%. The survey figures reveal that majority of the primary schools in rural areas have smaller library than their counterparts in urban areas. In rural areas, 44.73% of the schools have books up to 50 as against 20.44% schools in urban areas. Moreover, the proportion of schools with more than 200 books in the library is much higher in case of urban schools (35 86%) than in rural ones (12.51%). Managementwise, it is observed that private unaided schools, of which 44.77% have over 200 books, are best and the government schools are the worst, with only 13.23% of such schools having more than 200 books.
10.1.2 Middle schools In middle schools 83,743 (74.50%) out of 1,12,404 have reported having a library in them as against 59 61 % schools in the Third Survey. The percentage of middle schools with library is much higher than that in primary schools. Of the middle schools having library, 68,897 are located in rural areas and the remaining 14.846 in urban areas. The percentage of schools having library in the rural areas is 73.15 as against 81.46 in urban areas. Although the gap between the proportions in rural and urban areas is not as wide as in case of primary schools even then it is large enough and reflects the superiority of urban schools over rural ones.
FACILITIES 165
STATEMENT 10.3
Percentage of middle schools according to number of books in the library in rural and urban areas
Percentage of schools
Area Having library With number of books
1-100 101-300 1-500 Above 500
1 2 3 4 5 6
Rural 73.15 19.51 34.60 21.09 24.80
Urban 81.46 13.30 26.84 20.98 38.87
Total 74.50 18.41 33.22 21.07 27.29
Analysing the figures management-wise it is found that middle schools follow the same pattern as primary schools in respect of being equipped with library. Here also, private aided schools (83.06%) have the highest percentage followed by private unaided schools (81.71%), government schools (76.95%) and schools under local bodies (67.24%) with, library facility.
STATEMENT 10.4
Percentage of middle schools according to number of books in the library under various
managements
Percentage of schools
Management Having library With number of books
1-100 101-300 301-500 Above 500
1 2 3 4 5 6
Government 29.71 15.32 29.84 21.38 33.46
Local body 27.88 23.12 36.63 19.38 20.87
Private aided 46.38 18.82 35.05 21.68 24.44
Private unaided 32.89 10.39 31.09 27.75 30.77
Total 29.49 18.41 33.22 21.07 27.29
166 FOURTH ALL-INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
Among the States, Sikkim has the library facility in all its 40 middle schools. Haryana (98.13%), Himachal Pradesh (94.70%), Karnataka (90.36%). Rajasthan (90.04%) and Tamil Nadu (93.39%) are other States which have this facility in more than 90% schools. Nagaland (33.94%) has the lowest percentage. Except Lakshadweep (80.00%) and Mizoram (67.35%) all Union Territories have libraries in more than 95% of the middle schools. Of the 83,743 middle schools having library, 15,420 (18.41 %) have books up to 100. The corresponding figures for rural and urban areas are 19.51% and 13.30%, respectively. The proportion of middle schools having more than 500 books in their libraries is 27.29%; the rural and urban percentages being 24.80 and 38.87%, respectively. Under this category (schools with over 500 books) the highest percentage is of government schools (33.46%) and the lowest is of schools under local bodies (20.87%).
10.1.3 Secondary schools Every secondary school is expected to have a library but the survey has revealed that 1,911 (5.21 %) schools are without library as against 1,972 (5.95%) schools in the Third Survey. Contrary to the findings about primary and middle schools, secondary schools in rural areas are better placed so far as the availability of library is concerned.
STATEMENT 10.5
Percentage of secondary schools according to number of books in the library in rural and urban
areas.
Percentage of schools
Area Having library With number of books
1-500 501-1000 1001-2000 Above 2000
1 2 3 4 5 6
Rural 96.10 27.02 25.17 26.86 20.94
Urban 91.37 14.26 20.99 25.13 39.62
Total 94.79 23.61 24.05 26.40 25.93
STATEMENT 10.6
Percentage of secondary schools according to number of books in the library under various
managements
Management Percentage of schools
Having library With number of books
1-500 501-1000 1001-2000 Above 2000
1 2 3 4 5 6
Government 97.06 16.47 20.72 29.96 32.85
Local body 94.78 31.06 25.50 23.59 19.85
Private aided 93.95 25.80 25.33 25.41 23.46
Private unaided 90.71 24.53 26.32 21.77 27.38
Total 94.79 23.61 24.05 26.40 25.93
FACILITIES 167
Management-wise, it is found that there is not much variation between the proportion of schools with library facility under the different managements. It varies from 90.71% among the schools under local bodies to 97.06% among the government schools.
Among the States, Nagaland (76.14%) and among the Union Territories, Mizoram (74.56%) have the lowest percentage of secondary schools with library facility in them. Again, as in middle schools, Sikkim has this facility in all its secondary schools followed by Haryana (99.18%), Kerala (99.17%) and Rajasthan (98.99%). While among the Union Territories, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli have library in all the secondary schools, Delhi has in 96.53% and Goa, Daman & Diu in 96.69% of the schools.
Considering the books available in the library, it is observed that nearly 26% schools have more than 2000 books and 23.61 % schools up to 500 books in the library. Again, as in primary and middle schools, a larger proportion of secondary schools in rural areas have less number of books in the library than their counterparts in urban areas. In rural areas 20.94% schools have more than 2000 books and 27.02% schools up to 500 books only. The corresponding figures for urban areas are 39.62% and 14.26%, respectively.
10..14 Higher Secondary schools Majority of higher secondary schools both in rural and urban areas have the library facility in them. Here also, schools in rural areas have a slight edge over urban schools. The percentage of schools in rural areas with library is 97.45 as against 95.38 in urban areas. The corresponding percentages for the Third Survey were 95.35 and 96.07, respectively.
As in the case of secondary schools, in higher secondary schools also, there is not much difference between the proportions of schools with library under different managements. The percentage varies from 94.86 in case of schools under local bodies to 9 /.14 in the case of private unaided schools.
STATEMENT 10.7
Percentage of higher secondary schools according to number of books in the library in rural and
urban areas
Percentage of schools
Having library With number of books
Area 1-500 501-1000 1001-2000 Above 2000
1 2 3 4 5 6
Rural 97.45 13.54 14.28 24.64 47.54
Urban 95.38 4.66 7.98 15.91 71.44
Total 96.29 8.61 10.78 19.80 60.80
168 FOURTH ALL-INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
STATEMENT 10.8
Percentage of higher secondary schools according to number of books in the library under various
managements.
Percentage of schools
Management Having library With number of books
1-500 501-1000 1001-2000 Above 2000
1 2 3 4 5 6
Government 97.04 10.81 10.83 17.89 60.46
Local body 94.86 5.05 10.83 23.10 61.01
Private aided 95.80 6.83 10.57 21.19 61.41
Private unaided 97.14 16.34 14.05 15.69 53.92
Total 96.29 8.61 10.78 19.80 60.80
Among the States, Haryana, Kerala, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Sikkim and Tripura have library in all their higher secondary schools. Andhra Pradesh (98.72%), Karnataka (99.74%), Punjab (98.39%), Rajasthan (98.36%), Tamil Nadu (99.04%) and Uttar Pradesh (98.03%) are other States which have this facility in more than 98% of the schools. Gujarat (90.01%) has the lowest percentage. All higher secondary schools in Union Territories have got the library facility except two schools in Delhi.
In higher secondary schools, 6,106 (60.80%) of them have more than 2000 books in the library. This proportion is much higher than that of secondary schools (25.93%). Again, schools in urban areas have more books than their counterparts in rural areas. In urban areas 71.44% of the schools have above 2000 books in the library as compared to 47.54% of the schools in rural areas.
10.2 Textbook bank The scheme of textbook bank appears to be very popular in higher secondary schools where more than 80% of the schools have textbook banks. The corresponding percentages in case of secondary, middle and primary schools are 66.94, 52.66 and 40.01, respectively The percentage of schools having textbook banks in higher secondary, secondary, middle and primary schools were only 13.40, 13.27, 9.42 and 3.87, respectively during the Third Survey. Thus, we observe, that there is a sharp increase in the number of different types of schools having textbook banks. This may be perhaps due to the fact that the implementation of this scheme was at the initial stage at the time of the Third Survey and it gained momentum during the intervening period under the 20-point programme.
STATEMENT 10.9
Percentage of schools having textbook bank according to area
Percentage of schools having textbook bank
Area Primary Middle Secondary Higher Secondary
Rural 39.52 52.03 68.69 87.20
Urban 44.89 55.90 62.39 79.31
Total 40.01 52.66 66.94 82.78