SCHOOL BUILDINGS
The last four decades have witnessed great quantitative expansion of education at all levels, resulting in considerable increase in enrolment. This has, however, not been followed up by a corresponding increase in physical facilities needed for attracting to and retaining in schools the children in the earlier segment of the school-going age, nor has an appropriate academic atmosphere been created among the higher segment of the school-going students through better libraries, laboratories, and other facilities. A large number of schools still continue to function in thatched huts/kachcha buildings/ tents or even in open space in spite of the norms regarding school buildings laid down for recognition and/or affiliation by different agencies.
In the present as well as in the earlier four surveys, detailed information on school buildings has been collected to enable the planners to tackle this problem. The scope of the first two surveys conducted in 1957 and 1965 was limited to an enquiry about the condition of school buildings and the number of rooms alongwith the floor area. In the Third Survey the scope was considerably enlarged and in the Fourth Survey conducted in 1978 information was sought on (i) condition and ownership of school buildings, (ii) shortage of accommodation and the expansion potential, and (iii) availability of drinking-water, urinal/lavatory facilities.
In the Fifth Survey a more detailed information has been collected on the following aspects of school buildings:
(i) Condition of school buildings;
(ii) Ownership of school buildings;
(iii) Additional classrooms required and expansion potential of the buildings;
(iv) Availability of urinals and lavatory facilities in the school buildings with an emphasis on separate facilities for girls; and
(v) Availability of drinking-water within the school premises.
10.1 Condition of School Buildings The type of buildings in which a majority of the classes (including sections) are held has been categorized as pucca, partly pucca, kachcha, thatched hut, tent, or open space. The construction of school buildings has been categorized as pucca, partly pucca, kachcha, or thatched hut as per the norms of the respective States. Out of 7,35,771 schools in the country, 4,46,079 (60.63%) schools have pucca buildings, 1,22,534 (16.65%) are functioning in partly pucca buildings while 88,868 (12.08%) are in kachcha buildings, 32,372 (4.40%) in thatched huts, 3,007 (0.41 %) in tents, and 42,911 (5.83%) in the open space. As expected, the proportion of the schools with pucca buildings is higher in urban areas (78.21 %) as against 57.84 per cent in rural areas. The proportion of the schools having pucca buildings is the highest in private-unaided schools (76.32%) and the lowest in government schools-(54.15 %). Pucca buildings house a larger percentage of the higher secondary schools (89.39%), followed by secondary schools (72.97%), upper primary schools (69.36%) and primary schools (56.26%).
10.1.1 Primary Schools
Out (if 5,28,730 primary schools in the country only 2,97,483 (56.26%) are functioning in pucca buildings and 86,066 (16.28%) in partly pucca buildings. Of the remaining 1,45,181 (27.46%) schools, 73,615 (13.92%) are in kachcha buildings, 29,223 (5.53%) in thatched huts, 2,572 (0.49%) in tents, and 39,771 (7.52%) in the open space. This shows a rise in number as well as in the percentage of schools being run in pucca buildings over the figures of the Fourth Survey in which 2,22,861 (46.96%) primary schools were functioning in pucca buildings as against 2,97,483 (56.26%) schools in the Fifth Survey. Although there has been a fall in the number of schools being run in kachcha buildings, thatched huts and the open space in comparison with the figures of the Fourth Survey, the number of schools being run in tents has increased from 556 (0.12%) in the Fourth Survey to 2,572 (0.49%) in the Fifth Survey.
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STATEMENT 10.1
Primary Schools According to Type of Building
Area Type of Building
Open Tents Thatched Kachcha Partly Pucca Total
Space Huts Building Pucca Building
Building
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rural 138094 2509 28299 70351 77288 259282 475823
(8.01) (0.53) (5.95) (14.78) (16.24) (54.49) (100.00)
Urban 1677 63 924 3264 8778 38201 52907
(3.17) (0.12) (1.75) (6.17) (16.59) (72.20) (100.00)
TOTAL 39771 2572 29223 73615 86066 297483 528730
(7.52) (0.49) (5.53) (13.92) (16.28) (56.26) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
Management-wise distribution of schools reveals that the proportion of schools with pucca buildings is the highest in private-unaided schools (76.27%), followed by private-aided schools (64.97%), schools run by the local bodies (59.88%), and government schools (49.59%). Further, the proportion of schools functioning in the open space is at a lower level in the schools managed by the private bodies (1.50%) as against 7.97 per cent schools managed by the government or the local bodies.
In rural areas, 2,59,282 (54.49%) schools have pucca buildings while 38,094 (8.01%) are functioning in the open space, and 2,509 (0.53%) in tents. In urban areas 38,201 (72.20%) schools are functioning in pucca buildings, which shows that the position of school buildings is much better in urban areas than in rural areas. But in urban areas also 1,677 (3.17%) schools are being run in the open space and 63 (0.12%) schools in tents.
State-wise comparison shows that eight States have pucca buildings for more than 70% of the primary schools. The States are: Goa (84.69%), Gujarat (88.21%), Haryana (85.85%), Karnataka (84.50%), Punjab (85.24%), Rajasthan (78.18%), Tamil Nadu (79.01%), and Uttar Pradesh (74.26%). On the other extreme some States have pucca buildings even in fewer than 25% of the schools. The States are: Arunachal Pradesh (14.92%), Assam (7.58%), Manipur (2.21%), Meghalaya (7.80%), Mizoram (0.00%), Nagaland (6.98%), and Tripura (3.58%).
The position is not so dismal in the Union Territories as all of them except Delhi (49.67%) have pucca buildings in more than 55% of the schools, while the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep have pucca buildings in all the primary schools, and Chandigarh has pucca buildings in 90.91% of the primary schools.
10.1.2 Upper Primary Schools
There are 1,39,016 upper primary schools in the country of which 96,419 (69.36%) schools have pucca buildings while at the time of the Fourth Survey 78,471 (69.41 %) upper primary schools were functioning in pucca buildings. Although there is no improvement in the percentage of schools having pucca buildings from the
STATEMENT 10.2
Upper Primary Schools According to Type of Building
Area Type of Building
Open Tents Thatched Kachcha Partly Pucca Total
Space Huts Building Pucca Building
Building
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rural 2773 258 2301 10459 22224 75072 113087
(2.45) (0.23) (2.04) (9.25) (19.65) (66.38) (100.00)
Urban 0178 57 159 851 3337 21347 25929
(0.69) (0.22) (0.61) (3.28) (12.87) (82.33) (100.00)
TOTAL 2951 315 2460 11310 25561 96419 139016
(2.12) (0.23) (1.77) (8.13) (18.39) (69.36) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
118 FIFTH ALL-INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
Fourth Survey to the Fifth Survey, there is definite increase in the number of schools functioning in pucca buildings. As seen in the previous section, there are a large number of primary schools which are functioning in the open space and tents whereas only 2,951 (2.12%) upper primary schools are in the open space and 315 (0.23%) in tents and most of them are in rural areas. However, the number as well as the percentage of schools functioning in the open space and tents has gone up since the Fourth Survey in which 1,810 (1.61%) upper primary schools were functioning in the open space and 66 (0.06%) in tents as compared to 2,951 (2.12%) schools in the open space and 315 (0.23%) schools in tents in the Fifth Survey. Also, the proportion of schools functioning in the open space is relatively higher in the schools managed by the local bodies than in those under other managements. Further, in contrast to the primary schools, in upper primary schools the proportion of schools with pucca buildings is higher in the schools managed by the government or the local bodies (70.3 1 %) as against 66.48% schools managed by private bodies. In rural areas 75,072 (66.38%) upper primary schools are functioning in pucca buildings as against 21,347 (82.33%) schools in urban areas. But in urban areas also 178 (0.69%) schools are being run in the open space and 57 (0.22%) are housed in tents.
The Fifth Survey figures show that in some States more than 70% of the upper primary schools are housed in pucca buildings. These States are: Andhra Pradesh (76.36%), Goa (95.12%), Gujarat (95.83%), Haryana (92.16%). Karnataka (90.33%), Maharashtra (75.22%), Punjab (92.32%), Rajasthan (84.65%), Tamil Nadu (77.94%),and Uttar Pradesh (76.07%). On the other hand,in some States fewer than 30% of the upper primary schools function in pucca buildings. These states are: Assam (8.31%), Himachal Pradesh (25.29%), Manipur (3.21%), Meghalaya (22.56%), Mizoram (0.00%), and Tripura (2.63%). The position is quite satisfactory in the Union Territories where all of them except Delhi (54.64%) and Pondicherry (65.00%) have pucca buildings for more than 90% of the upper primary schools, while the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep have pucca buildings in all the upper primary schools.
10.1.3 Secondary Schools
Out of 52,560 secondary schools in the country 38,353 (72.97%) schools are functioning in pucca buildings while 9,470 (18.02%) schools are functioning in partly pucca buildings, which together account for 90.99% of the schools. Among the rest, 166 (0.31%) schools are functioning in the open space and 99 (0.19%) in tents. It is observed that there is a decrease in the number of schools as well as in the proportion of schools functioning in the open space in comparison with the figures of the Fourth Survey in which 221 (0.60%) schools were identified as those functioning in the open space as against 166 (0.31%) schools in the Fifth Survey.
STATEMENT 10.3
Secondary Schools According to Type of Building
Area Type of Building
Open Tents Thatched Kachcha Partly Pucca Total
Space Huts Building Pucca building
Building
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rural 150 79 578 3495 7836 26724 38862
(0.39) (0.20) (1.49) (8.99) (20.16) (68.77) (100.00)
Urban 16 20 42 357 1634 11629 13698
(0.12) (0.14) (0.31) (2.61) (11.93) (84.89) (100.00)
TOTAL 166 99 620 3852 9470 38353 52560
(0.31) (0.19) (1.18) (7.33) (18.02) (72.97) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
Analysing the management-wise figures it is observed that the proportion of schools with pucca buildings is the highest in the schools Managed by the local bodies (81.99%) and the lowest in the private-unaided schools (65.20%). Like the earlier stages of education, here also the proportion of schools which are functioning in pucca buildings is relatively higher in urban areas (84.89%) as against 68.77% in rural areas. But in urban areas also 16 (0.12%) schools are functioning in the open space and 20 (0.14%) schools in tents.
State-wise comparison shows that all States except Assam (17.00%), Himachal Pradesh (40.07%), Manipur (8.82%), Meghalaya (38.54%), Mizoram (0.00%), Orissa (54.72%), and Tripura (25.36%) have pucca buildings for more than 60% of the secondary schools, while the States of Haryana (96.79%), Punjab (95.55%), Rajasthan (94.28%), and Uttar Pradesh (91.99%) have pucca buildings for more than 90% of the secondary schools. All the Union Territories except Delhi (62.55%) have pucca buildings in more than 80% of the secondary schools whereas the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and, Lakshadweep have pucca buildings in all die secondary schools.
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10.1.4 Higher Secondary Schools
Out of 15,465 higher secondary schools in the country 13,824 (89.39%) have pucca buildings and 1,437 (9.29%) are functioning in partly pucca buildings. It is surprising that 23 (0.15%) higher secondary schools are functioning in the open space and 21 (0.13%) higher secondary schools in tents. Although the number of higher secondary schools having pucca buildings has gone up significantly since, the Fourth Survey, the percentage has decreased as during the Fourth Survey 9,599 (91.66%) schools were having pucca buildings as against 13,824 (89.39%) in the Fifth Survey. Management-wise distribution of schools in this context reveals
STATEMENT 10.4
Higher Secondary Schools According to Type or Buildings
Area Type of Building
Open Tents Thatched Kachcha Partly pucca Total
Space Huts Building Pucca Building
Building
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rural 14 5 58 70 870 611 97136
(0.20) (0.07) (0.81) (0.98) (12.19) (85.75) (100.00)
Urban 9 16 11 21 567 7705 8329
(0.11) (0.19) (0.13) (0.25) (6.81) (92.51) (100.00)
TOTAL 23 21 69 91 1437 13824 15465
(0.15) (0.13) (0.45) (0.59) (9.29) (89.39) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
that 92.96% of the schools managed by private bodies have pucca buildings as against 84.89% schools managed by the government or the local bodies. Further, 92.51 % of the schools in urban areas are functioning in pucca buildings as against 85.75% in rural areas. However, in urban areas also nine (0.11 %) schools are functioning in the open space and 16 (0.19%) schools in tents.
All the States except Assam (29.86%), Himachal Pradesh (68.07%), Manipur (20.00%), and Meghalaya (50.00%) have pucca buildings for more than 80% of the higher secondary schools. Further, the States of Goa (95.65%), Gujarat (97.91 %), Haryana (98.33%), Karnataka (95.26%), Kerala (95.24%), Orissa (100.00), Punjab (97.88%), Rajasthan (96.70%), and West Bengal (95.78%) have pucca buildings for more than 95% of the higher secondary schools. All the Union Territories except Delhi (83.71%) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (92.59%) have pucca buildings in all the higher secondary schools.
10.2 Ownership of School Buildings Apart from the government or local bodies, various trusts, philanthropic organizations and individuals provide space or buildings for running schools permanently or temporarily pending permanent arrangements. Usually such buildings are not very suitable for running educational institutions. There is also a wide variation in the ownership of buildings used for running schools. The building could either be owned by the school or the school may be paying rent for it. Sometimes the buildings are even rent-free.
Out of 7,35, 771 schools in the country, 6,92,938 (94.18%) schools are housed in buildings. Of these 6,92,938 schools, 5,95,851 (85.99%) own their buildings, 49,605 (7.16%) are functioning in rented buildings, and 47,482 (6.85%) have rent-free buildings. In rural areas 5,28,933 (89.01%) schools own their buildings as against 66,918 (67.79%) schools in urban areas. However, in rural areas 24,624 (4.15%) schools are functioning in rented buildings as against 24,981 (25.31%) in urban areas. Management-wise analysis reveals that 88.17% of the schools managed by the government or the local bodies have their own buildings as against 74.10% managed by private bodies. The proportion of schools owning their own buildings is the highest in the case of schools run by the local bodies (88.29%) and the lowest in the case of private-unaided schools (61.37%).
10.2.1 Primary Schools
Out of 5,28,730 primary schools in the country, 4,89,300 (92.54%) are functioning in buildings, of which 4,23,274 (86.51 %) own their own buildings, 27,466 (5.61%) are functioning in rented buildings and 38,560 (7.88%) in rent-free buildings. This reveals that the number as well as the percentage of schools owning their buildings has gone up since the Fourth Survey when the number of the schools owing their buildings stood at 3,26,659 (74.67%) as against 4,23,274 (86.51 %) in the present survey. On the other
120 FIFTH ALL-INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
STATEMENT 10.5
Primary Schools According to Ownership of School Buildings
Area Ownership of Building
Owned Rented Rent-free Total
Rural 38939 214577 34162 438131
(88.87) (3.33) (7.80) (100.00)
Urban 33882 12889 4398 51169
(66.22) (25.19) (8.59) (100.00)
TOTAL 423274 27466 38560 489300
(86.51) (5.61) (7.88) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
hand, the number of schools functioning in rented buildings has decreased since the Fourth Survey when 31,948 (7.28%) primary schools were housed in rented buildings as against 27,466 (5.61 %) in the Fifth Survey. Again, from the management-wise distribution it is found that the percentage of schools owning their buildings is the highest in respect of the schools managed by the local bodies (88.46%) and the lowest among the private-unaided schools (56.71%). A sizable proportion (36.68%) of private-unaided schools is housed in rented buildings. Further, in rural areas 3,89,392 (88.87%) primary schools have their own buildings as against 33,882 (66.22%) in urban areas. A sizable proportion of the urban schools (25.19%), however, are housed in rented buildings while in rural areas only 3.33 per cent schools are functioning in rented buildings.
10.2.2 Upper Primary Schools
Of the 1,39,016 upper primary schools in the country, 1,35,949 (97.79%) have buildings. Of these 1,35,949 upper primary schools, 1,17,929 (86.75%) own their buildings, 12,115 (8.91%) have rented accommodation, and 5,905 (4.34%) are functioning in rent-
STATEMENT 10.6
Upper Primary Schools According to Ownership of School Buildings
Area Ownership of Building
Owned Rented Rent-free Total
Rural 101603 4376 4342 110321
(92.10) (3.97) (3.93) (100.00)
Urban 16326 7739 1563 25628
(63.70) (30.20) (6.10) (100.00)
TOTAL 117929 12115 5905 135949
(86.75) (8.91) (4.34) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
free buildings. This shows that the number as well as the percentage of schools owning their buildings has increased since the Fourth Survey when 91,637 (82.68%) upper primary schools had their own buildings as against 1,17,929 (86.75%) in the present survey. In rural areas 1,01,603 (92. 10%) schools have their own buildings as against 16,326 (63.70%) in urban areas. However, in urban areas 7,739 (30.20%) upper primary schools are housed in rented accommodation as against 4,376 (3.97%) in rural areas. A sizable proportion of private-unaided schools (28.79%) is functioning in rented buildings and a majority of them is in urban areas.
10.2.3 Secondary Schools
There are 52,560 secondary schools in the country; of which 52,273 (99.45%) are functioning in buildings. Of these 52,273 secondary schools, 41,422 (79.24%) own their buildings, 8,303
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(15.88%) are functioning in rented buildings, and 2,548 (4.88%) function in rent-free accommodation.This indicates that the number as well as the percentage of schools owning buildings has gone up since the Fourth Survey when 27,630 (75.46%) secondary schools had their own buildings as against 41,422 (79.24%) in the present survey.
STATEMENT 10.7
Secondary Schools According to Ownership of School Buildings
Area Ownership of Budding
Owned Rented Rent-free Total
Rural 31670 5011 1972 38653
(81.94) (12.96) (5.10) (100.00)
Urban 9752 3292 576 13620
(71.60) (24.17) (4.23) (100.00)
TOTAL 41422 8303 2548 52273
(79.24) (15.88) (4.88) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentages
Management-wise analysis that 90.91% of the schools managed by the government or the local bodies own their buildings as against 69.22% managed by the private bodies. Further, 32.98% of the private- unaided schools and 25.22% of the private-aided schools are functioning in rented accommodation. In rural areas 81.64% of the schools own their buildings as against 71.60% in urban areas. However, in rural areas also 12.96% of the schools are housed in rented buildings as against 24.17% in urban areas.
10.2.4 Higher Secondary Schools
Out of 15,465 higher secondary schools, 15,416 (99.68%) are functioning in buildings. Of these 15,416 higher secondary schools 13,226 (85.80%) have their own buildings, while 1,721 (11.16%) are functioning in rented buildings and 469 (3.04%) have rent-free accommodation. During the Fourth Survey 8,840 (84.76%) higher secondary schools were owning their buildings.
STATEMENT 10.8
Higher Secondary Schools According to Ownership of School Buildings
Area Ownership of Building
Owned Rented Rent-free Total
Rural 6268 660
190 7118
(88.06) (9.27) (2.67) (100.00)
Urban 6958 1061 279 8298
(83.85) (12.79) (3.36) (100.00)
TOTAL 13226 1721 469 15416
(85.80) (11.16) (3.04) (100.00)
Note : Figures within parentheses indicate percentage
A comparison of schools under various types of managements reveals that the percentage of schools owning their buildings is the highest in government schools (93.88%) and the lowest in private- unaided schools (74.53%). Further, it is observed that 17.53% of the schools managed by private bodies have rented accommodation as against only 2.23% managed by the government or the local bodies. In rural areas the proportion of schools owning their buildings is slightly higher than in urban areas.
10.3 Additional Classrooms Required and Expansion Potential It is revealed by the earlier as well as by the present survey that a sizable number of schools are housed in kachcha buildings, thatched huts, tents, and even in the open space where generally adequate number of rooms are not available for proper running of the school. Leaving aside these schools it cannot be taken for granted that the schools functioning in pucca or partly pucca buildings have
122 FIFTH ALL INDIA EDUCATIONAL SURVEY
sufficient number of rooms required to run the school smoothly. In the present survey information has been collected about additional classrooms required in schools (or total number of rooms required in the case of schools being run in the open space or tents) and the potentiality of expansion for construction of additional classrooms in these schools has been studied.
10.3a. Additional Classrooms Required in Schools
Apart from the fact that a sizable number of schools are not having proper buildings, 5,89,437 (80.11%) schools out of 7,35,771 covering all stages of education, do not have adequate number of classrooms. At the time of the Fourth Survey 4,63,330 (73.06%) schools did not have adequate number of rooms, which shows an increase in the number as well as in the percentage of schools needing additional classrooms. The position is more acute in respect of the earlier stages of school education in comparison to higher stages as out of 5,89,437 schools which need additional classrooms 4,29,642 (72.89%) are primary schools, 1,10,165 (18.69%) upper primary schools, 38,877 (6.60%) secondary schools, and 10,753(1.82%) higher secondary schools. As expected the proportion of schools requiring additional classrooms is more in rural areas (82.33%) as against 66.15% in urban areas.
10.3a.1 Primary Schools: Only 99,088 (18.74%) primary schools have adequate number of classrooms to run the schools out of 5,28,730 primary schools in the country. At the time of the Fourth Survey 1,29,726 (27.33%) primary schools had adequate number of rooms. This shows that the number as well as the percentage of schools having adequate number of classrooms has decreased since the time of the Fourth Survey. Of the 4,29,642 primary schools which have shortage of classrooms, 10,625 (2.47%) require more than five additional classrooms, 34,988 (8.14%) need five additional classrooms, while 2,73,902 (63.76%) schools need between two and four additional classrooms, and 1,10,127 (25.63%) schools require only one. additional classroom. The
STATEMENT 10.9
Primary Schools According to Additional Classrooms Required
Area Additional Class rooms Required
One Two Three Four Five More than Five Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rural 101631 112704 87582 51488 31816 8315 393536
(25.83) (28.64) (22.26) (13.08) (8.08) (2.11) (100.00)
Urban 8496 9602 7352 5174 3172 2310 36106
(23.53) (26.59) (20.36) (14.33) (8.79) (6.40) (100.00)
TOTAL 110127 122306 94934 56662 34988 10625 429642
(25.63) (28.47) (22.10) (13.19) (8.14) (2.47) (100.00)